Town
5 June 2006
The Council of Education Ministers (CEM), today at its scheduled meeting in
Cape Town approved amendments to regulations for safety measures at public
schools.
The regulations for safety measures at public schools (South African Schools
Act, 1996) as published in the Government Gazette (2001) focus on the safety of
learners within the school premises.
The council agreed to extend the safety measures by amending the existing
regulations in order to accommodate school tours and sporting activities.
The amendments cover various issues with regard to school safety such as
school tours and sporting activities, parental consent for tours, transport,
harmful physical activities, emergencies and an application form for approval
to undertake a tour.
The regulations will amongst others ensure the following:
* that public schools take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of
learners during tours and sporting activities including insuring against
prevention of accidents and provision of coverage in case of accidents
* that learners and educators who undertake the tour cannot take along
drugs, alcohol and dangerous weapons on school trips
* upon return from the tour or sporting activity, the supervising educator
must submit a report to the principal who in turn will submit the report to the
departmental official who approved the tour
* a public school must obtain a written consent from the parent of the
learner who will be undertaking the tour
* a public school must ensure that vehicles for transporting learners have
insurance and roadworthy certificates and that drivers of such vehicles are in
possession of valid driverâs licences and professional driving permits
* that learners are informed about the dangers of and safety measures
regarding water, including swimming, rivers, dams and the sea
* a public school must have an early release procedure that allows parents
or designated persons to collect learners from school early, this should
include keeping a record of the name of the learner, grade, name of person
collecting the learner and time, date and purpose of early release. Proof by
the person designated by a parent should also be produced
* an application for approval for undertaking a tour should be completed.
The principal, parent accompanying learners and School Governing Body (SGB) of
the applicant public school must complete this application form.
The regulations will be published for public comment before being gazetted
into legislation.
With regard to incidents of safety at schools, council has agreed on the
following:
* to provide infrastructure such as walls and fences around schools that
currently do not have
* to strengthen relations between schools and the local South African Police
Service (SAPS)
* provincial education departments will also investigate the introduction of
safety officers at vulnerable schools
* the Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Enver Surty, will lead a team that will
investigate the legislative process with regard to random searches for drugs
and weapons at schools in line with international experiences
* a school register will also be introduced to ensure that all visitors to
schools are registered
* CEM will also explore the introduction of counselling services at schools
based on the model of Western Cape Department of Education
* the Department of Education will identify specific problem schools and report
to council
* the Department of Education will investigate in consultation with Business
Against Crime the use of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in schools. This will
also include the placing of floodlights around schools.
Council approved the following policy matters:
* national policy on the conduct, administration and management of the
national senior certificate; the draft policy document has been developed with
the aim of managing the national senior certificate examinations from 2008. The
draft policy documents describe the sequence of the national senior certificate
assessment process. It also distinguishes between norms and standards and
guidelines to be adhered to by assessment bodies and accommodated. The draft
policy will be published for public comment.
* implementation of e-learning through which secondary schools will be given
priority for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) implementation.
Enquiries:
Tommy Makhode
Cell: 082 566 0446
Issued by: Ministry of Education
5 June 2006
