Abusive teachers’ penalties ‘too lenient’
THE SA Council for Educators (Sace), which imposed shockingly lenient sanctions on two teachers who pleaded guilty for assaulting pupils in their classrooms, should reconsider the punishment meted out.
This is according to Section27, which on behalf of the Centre for Child Law, turned to the North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday in an effort to protect pupils from further harm and ensure that the ban on corporal punishment was taken seriously.
The court is also asked to order Sace to revise its mandatory sanctions meted out to teachers in terms of its code of professional ethics guidelines which it used when sanctioning educators for misconduct.
Judge Dawie Fourie yesterday postponed the application to a later date, yet to be determined, on procedural grounds.
The Children’s Institute joined the legal proceedings as a friend of the court to voice its concerns about the fact that these teachers were given a slap on the wrist after they had severely assaulted two children.
The two separate cases related to the assault of a 7-year-old and a 10-year-old.
In the first case, a Gauteng boy in Grade 2 was hit on the back of his head with a pipe by his teacher in 2015.
He suffered head injuries which became infected and resulted in his hospitalisation.
In the second case in Limpopo in 2019, a 10-year-old girl in Grade 5 was slapped over the head and cheek by her teacher. She was left with bleeding ears and suffered ongoing complications as a result and had to repeat the year.
The parents of both learners have shared the fear their children felt in
going back to school.
After the teachers pleaded guilty, Sace imposed sentences in terms of its Mandatory Sanctions document, including the educators’ removal from the roll of educators, but this was suspended for 10 years.
This meant they would only be suspended if they again within this period were convicted on the same charges.
The teachers were fined R15 000 each, of which R5 000 was suspended, leaving R10 000 payable over 12 months.
Both the Centre for Child Law and the Children’s Institute view this sanction as shockingly lenient and inadequate, especially given the injuries the children have suffered.
Sace is the professional body charged with maintaining and protecting the ethical and professional standards for educators. Its code of
professional ethics states educators must refrain from any form of abuse – physical or psychological – and that it is mandated to investigate and punish any teacher found guilty of this.
It is stated in court papers that this body is thus an important institution which can address and stop the use of corporal punishment in schools.
The Centre for Child Law said despite the ban on corporal punishment, it was still rife at schools across the country.
The SA Schools Act banned the use of corporal punishment in 1996, but research shows corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure remains prevalent in schools. The Statistics SA General Household Survey 2018 shows up to a million learners reported that they experienced corporal punishment in that year. In opposing the application, Sace said it stood by its guidelines.