debate on schools safety, Cape Town
30 May 2006
Honourable members, thank you once again for affording me the opportunity to
lead this House on the issue of schools safety. As I said about two weeks ago
when I made a statement on this matter, I believe our Safe Schools Programme is
definitely having a positive impact on our schools. But I will also be the
first to warn against complacency.
In this regard, to outline the extent of the challenges we all face, I want
to illustrate the following: In 2003 our Safe Schools Call Centre recorded 1
561 incidents ranging from abuse, burglary, and vandalism, crime and gang
violence.
In the year 2004 it has risen slightly to 1 958. In 2005 2 778 incidents
were recorded, and for 2006, up to 31 March this year, already we have recorded
1 038 incidents. About two-thirds of all incidents recorded were from
metropolitan schools.
These statistics were recorded by our Safe Schools Call Centre. All schools
have to report school crime. Data is captured and used in an integrated
approach to combat crime and violence. This provides an effective Victim
Empowerment programme to support and manage victims of crime and violence.
Sometimes, because of the way the media use their headlines, an impression
is created that government only responds to crises. This is far from the truth.
In fact, we have an integrated prevention, crime control, and intervention and
response strategy.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has developed safety structures
for schools to support and encourage safety at school level. This starts with
encouraging a team spirit within the school and surrounding community and a
willingness to engage in a continued process of critical assessment and change.
The School Safety Committee (SSC) consists of a wide range of service providers
and maintains a positive attitude towards critical analysis.
The School Safety Committee is responsible for ensuring that safety is part
of the school's vision, conducting safety audits, compiling and revising safety
plans, advising with regard to selection and implementation strategies,
conducting an audit of service providers relating to safety and security at the
school.
Our Safe Schools Programme has provided 100 schools with security
infrastructure, ranging from remote control gates with Closed Circuit
Television (CCTV) cameras, intercom systems in order to do evacuation and
safety drills, safety gates, burglar bars, maintenance on broken fences, and
barbed wire, depending on the need as identified by the safety committee and
verified through a risk analysis by the Safe Schools Co-ordinators.
The 100 schools identified have been secured appropriately and access
control has been improved. These schools were identified based on the criteria
as stipulated in the procedural manual.
Twenty-eight schools received an alarm system linked to an armed response
unit that has a car in the vicinity of the school and is able to respond to the
schools need in less than seven minutes. Armed Response subsidies were paid to
all schools that installed an alarm system.
In addition to infrastructure, Western Cape Education Department (WCED) in
partnership with Community Safety identified 400 high-risk schools that needed
additional human resources to control crime.
Of these, six Bambanani Volunteers were deployed to 100 schools identified
as extremely high-risk, at a cost of R6 million. At least one of the Bambanani
Volunteers is a parent and member of the SGB. Furthermore schools seek parent
watch to assist with the monitoring in and around toilets on school
premises.
We have also, with Community Safety helped pioneered the appointment of
Learner Support Officers (LSOs) based at schools and Education Management and
Development Centres (EMDCs). The LSOs contribute significantly to building
safer environments, by reducing truancy, dropouts and bunking and promoting
crime prevention.
Perhaps what is not reported on and what is not common knowledge, is the
fairly successful outcomes of our crime prevention and attitudinal or behaviour
modification programmes, through learner seminars, corrective, assertive
discipline and positive discipline, conflict resolution and mediation training,
and establishment of peer mediators on school premises.
Honourable Members, this is part of a long list of ongoing programmes and
projects, in conjunction with numerous partners, tackling many issues,
including substance abuse, sexual abuse and cultural diversity.
As I indicated in my Budget Speech earlier, our partnership with the
Department of Community Safety is an excellent example of how we work together.
Similarly, we shall continue to work closely with all other partners in a wide
variety of sectors, including community organisations.
One such organisation which I particularly want to highlight is the Proudly
Manenberg Campaign. It has been started by former learners, educators and
activists in the community with a view to responding to the social and economic
crisis that persists in the community.
The campaign had its genesis at the Manenberg High School, where one of its
learners, Cheslyn Jones was fatally stabbed by gang members outside the
school.
The killing of the learner is symptomatic of the general malaise within the
community that is affected by high rates of unemployment, high levels of
violence, gangsterism and the low morale of educators due to stressful working
conditions.
The social ills in the community had a direct impact on the schools. A few
years ago gangs used schools as scenes for their operations, fought over the
schools as parts of their "territory", and in fact recruited members with a
number of juvenile or feeder gangs operating in the township. Schools were
becoming havens for drugs, movement and storage of guns and were effectively
terrorised.
The last few years have seen the schools and the broader community fighting
back. The progress has been seen in:
* schools and the broader community engaging with gangs constructively to limit
their activities and behaviour
* an effective method of reporting and reacting to concerns about gang members
who try and recruit learners
* effective banning of drugs (including cigarettes) in schools in Manenberg,
with a strong reactive process involving police and the Safe Schools Call
Centre if learners are found with drugs.
However, members of the community and residents continue to struggle to rid
themselves of the stigma that is associated with Manenberg in the outside
world. Many complain that employers reject their job applications, especially
young people.
In view of this the Proudly Manenberg Campaign aims to restore the family
values and morals of the community; create better economic, social and
education opportunities; return our schools to the learners, teachers and
parents; make the schools conducive for learning and stabilise the immediate
community against crime and gangsterism.
I believe a school is part of the community, and that there is a reciprocal
relationship between safe schools and safe communities. A community that feels
ownership and pride for its school does not vandalise it and does not allow
others to do so.
Schools must reach out and serve the community; it must open its doors to
everyone and enable the whole community to become a learning community.
Learners, teachers and administrative staff are not only school agents; they
are also community agents, agents of social change and development.
I believe our Community School Week later this year will be the first
contribution sponsored by WCED, to realising the objective of integrating our
schools within communities. I want to emphasise sponsored by WCED, because I
believe there are already some shining examples of schools owned and used by
their communities.
This initiative is intended to restore both hope and dignity to communities.
We have set aside some budget for it and hope that other ministries will
likewise be able to support it.
Mr Speaker, not only is school safety one of my six critical priorities for
the rest of my term of office, but it is also the number one priority for the
Social Cluster Cabinet Committee. This is an indication of the seriousness with
which this provincial government is viewing the safety of our children.
I have already indicated that I am committed to reviewing our Safe Schools
Programme with a view to strengthen it. Last year the WCED hosted a safety
indaba with all relevant role players, to discuss an impact assessment
programme.
The aim of this assessment is to acquire information from schools with
regard to the schools' status on safety and to assess whether the policy manual
is being implemented.
The impact assessment tool was developed by Safe Schools and circulated to
circuit managers, directors of EMDCs as well as the employee parties, South
African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), National Professional Teachers'
Organisation (Naptosa) and South African Teachers' Union (SAOU) for input.
The impact assessment tool proved to be a valuable tool for schools to
assist them with developing safe learning institutions and at the same time
assisted the Safe Schools co-ordinator to assess the gaps in safety and
security at the schools. The Safe Schools co-ordinators are able to determine
additional training needs of the safety committees.
The Safe Schools co-ordinators conducted the impact assessment in the EMDCs
at 20 selected schools consisting of five extremely high risk schools, five
high risk schools, five medium risk schools and five low risk schools.
The impact assessment thus focused on 10% of public ordinary schools in the
Western Cape. The impact assessment tool will also be circulated to all other
public ordinary schools. These processes will form part of a broader review,
and will also be subject to our WCED redesign exercise.
I thank you
Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Cell: 082 550 3938
Tel: (021) 467 2523
Fax: (021) 425 5689
E-mail: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Education, Western Cape Provincial Government
30 May 2006
