GOVERNMENT URGED TO SAFEGUARD TEACHERS AND PRINCIPALS IN SCHOOLS.

Written by: Tasha Siziba

The year 2024 marks 28 years since the adoption of the constitution of RSA, 1996, and the subsequent abolishment of corporal punishment in schools.

Education activist Hendrick Makaneta has strongly condemned the shooting incident at Primrose, where a 13 year old learner allegedly shot a school principal.

The Gauteng Education Department has revealed that the shooting of a principal by a grade 6 student was planned via WhatsApp.

“We have had enough of crime in schools. Not long ago, a deputy principal was shot in Tembisa. Learners have also suffered at the hands of other learners. It is a common cause that every year, teachers form part of statistics as a result of violence meted on them by learners.”

Makaneta says the levels of crime in schools continue to rise at an alarming rate and government must find a way to protect teachers and principals from unruly elements.

30 years into democracy, today’s learners are more violent than those who grew up under apartheid.

There is no doubt that the criminal conduct that learners are exposed to in communities ends up creeping into schools.

“In most cases, it is learners who are not thirsty for learning that cause problems in schools. It is learners who did not get a good upbringing at home, who cause all the problems at school. We trust that the law enforcement agencies will do their part in helping bring about justice to all victims of crime in our schools.”

Makaneta concludes by saying no one should be allowed to be a law unto themselves, in the same note, no one should be subjected to violence.