Minister calls for talks amid violence aimed at teachers
tebogo.monama@inl.co.zas FOLLOWING the killing of a teacher by a learner in North West, education officials will be calling a symposium to discuss violence.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga this week said she would call a symposium that would include the SAPS, the Department of Social Development and school governing bodies to deal with violence in schools.
This follows the murder of a teacher, Gadimang Daniel Mokolobate, in Zeerust, North West, by a learner.
“It is unfortunate that, as a sector responsible for education, we have to deal with these types of incidents, often distracting us from our core business of learning and teaching,” Motshekga said.
She added that communities and parents should also take responsibility for what happens in schools.
“Schools operate within communities and are often a reflection of the community and the social ills that are found in these communities. We need support from all around us. It brings to mind the adage, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. This really speaks to our situation in education as we cannot deal with these issues on our own.”
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation (Naptosa) says more has to be done to protect its members in schools.
“Our union has been inundated with disturbing testimonials concerning the levels of violence against teachers in schools. The country has also been witnessing a series of shocking videos showing violence by learners towards teachers.
“Violence in schools has resulted in some teachers leaving the profession. People in positions of authority in communities should intervene in order to safeguard the integrity of the teaching profession,” said the union’s president Nkosiphendule Ntantala.
He added: “While Naptosa acknowledges that violence in schools requires a multifaceted approach to curb it, we are of the view that the department can do much more to protect its employees. The department has to accept that current measures employed to deal with disruptive learners who physically and psychologically assault teachers are not effective at all.
“For example, relocation of abusive learners to other schools merely shifts the problem from one school to the next and only perpetuates the cycle of violence against teachers and, furthermore, puts other learners at risk.”
Ntantala said instead of relocating learners, they should be provided with professional help to rehabilitate.
SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said they had, for years, been calling on the department to ensure schools are safe. “We expect our schools to be free of drugs and of weapons that can endanger the lives of both the teachers and learners.
“We reiterate our call for the Department of Education to address safety concerns,” Cembi said.
BONGANI NKOSI
bongani.nkosi@inl.co.za DEAF learners in the country remain denied access to quality education, the Deaf Federation of SA (DeafSA) has said.
On the other hand, the Department of Basic Education has revealed that its drive to deliver quality education to the deaf was crippled by a shortage of requisite teachers.
A detailed report that DeafSA submitted to the portfolio committee on basic education has raised various concerns about the quality of education deaf learners received.
“Deaf and hard of hearing children have the right to a quality education, with the same content and to the same academic level as hearing children,” DeafSA said.
“They can and should reach their full potential with appropriate, visual, quality educational programmes and support.”
But this was rarely the case, said the report. Learners reported getting education of poor quality.
“Many learners and teachers identified a lack of teacher proficiency in South African Sign Language (SASL) as a pivotal problem that not only affects their ability to teach, but also has an impact upon how teachers understand what it is to be deaf,” the report said.
Deaf education remained underfunded, said DeafSA. The department had undertaken to approach the National Treasury for increased funding. “However, it is not clear whether this has been done,” DeafSA said.
DeafSA blamed underfunding for the shortage of learning and teaching materials.
“At a recent training, teachers were given DVDs with videos of poetry in American Sign Language and British Sign Language.”
Dr Mamiki Maboya, the department’s deputy director-general for curriculum policy, support and monitoring, said the shortage of teachers qualified to teach deaf learners was a major problem.
Only 30 deaf teachers had graduated from the country’s universities over the years.
“The sluggish growth in the number of qualified deaf teachers is attributable to low throughput and completion rates for deaf learners and the negligible number who have been entering university,” Maboya said.