Outcome of dagga disciplinary hearing ‘will set precedent’
SCHOOL Governing Body Association says the outcome of the disciplinary hearing of the alleged dagga smoking by learners at Leondale High School will set a precedent for how the education sector will deal with drug use at schools.
The 36 suspended Leondale High School learners, who were shown smoking dagga on school premises, were accompanied by their parents to the school yesterday as their disciplinary hearing commenced.
The video of the learners went viral last week after the incident occurred on April 20, also known as 420 Day, an unofficial international day dedicated to celebrating and smoking marijuana.
Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department has launched an investigation into how the implicated learners were left unsupervised.
“We need to give the investigation time so that we have a report on what happened and who was supposed to be where and why they were not there at that time,” Mabona said when speaking to the media outside the school yesterday morning.
The spokesperson added that the department was told that most of the suspended pupils are top performers who allegedly didn’t have much experience with dagga.
Mabona said the outcome of the process will likely come out by the end of the week.
National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) general secretary Matakanye Matakanya said the outcome of the disciplinary process will set a precedent of how schools handle drug use at schools.
“This has been happening all over the country but it was not highlighted and put in the spotlight as it is now. The outcome will send a clear message to those schools, governing bodies and school management that haven’t taken a firm stance on drug use,” Matakanye said.
He said that parents must also talk to their children and make sure that they are disciplined.
Matakanye added that the incident was an embarrassment to the sector.
The department spokesperson further urged people to not be too hard on the Leondale High School children as the school is well-performing with a 100% matric pass rate.
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