Teachers say schools are no longer safe

Teachers’ unions say their members feel under siege from communities who expect them to perform miracles and ensure unqualified pupils pass and are promoted to the next grade.

This came after a deputy principal at Phomolong Secondary School, Thembisile Ngendane, 50, was shot and killed, allegedly by a pupil, outside the school gate last week Friday, January 21, while sitting in her car.

The police preliminary investigations have revealed that three gunmen driving in a white vehicle shot Ngendane through the passenger window.

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA executive director Manuel Basi said there was a mind-shift in society as a whole, where teachers are expected to pass failed pupils or that they should not take corrective measures against pupils who fail to do their school work but expect to pass.

“Society has changed and the expectations of teachers are more, but also the respect for teachers is less,” said Basil.

Basil said the incidents where teachers have been forced into a physical scuffle with a pupil showed deliberate targeting of teachers.

“However, I also don't want to fall into the trap of creating the impression that this is generally happening. There are far more children that are respectful of teachers.

“But I'm also concerned about the under-reporting. There are not many incidents that are happening where children become physical with teachers, and it's embarrassing to talk about it, so they don't report it,” he said.

SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Numusa Cembi said the union had noted a pattern of attacks in schools.

“We feel that, yes, one can deduce that schools are being targeted, but at the same time, one cannot evoke levels of violence that are taking place in communities which may or so spill over to schools because schools are not operating in isolation,” she said.

Cembi said some schools had been vandalised as part of the trends throughout the country.

“At the moment, some incidents between a learner and a teacher haven't been to court, They (teachers) may be targeted because of the work that they do. Some learners are not happy with being failed or learners being disciplined and not being happy with how they're being disciplined.”

Cembi said that the union has been engaging the department of education about upgrading security in schools.

Teachers say they fear for their safety as schools become more violent

Meanwhile, a teacher at Phomolong Secondary School, where Ngendane was shot, said he feared for his life as he is not sure what and who is next.

“If the allegations that it was a learner are true I should be worried because I am one of the teachers who forces learners to do their work. Now it will be difficult to even address some issues because you’re not sure whether you will be attacked,” he said.

He alleged that Ngendane and another teacher were confronted by a parent over the results that were pending earlier before her brutal death.

“I am sure she (the parent) regrets what happened right now because she came in the morning on the same day. She even insulted them. This was regarding the pending results because her child’s surname was similar to one student who completed last year.”

Another teacher at the school said: “It is a struggle to wake up and go to work because you’ll never know what might happen.”

A deputy principal in a primary school in Soweto said he also feared for his life.

“The government is not treating this as a matter of urgency. We don’t know when we leave our homes we will come back alive or dead. The government should also hire proper security personnel who will demand the identity of everyone who enters the school premises.

“Schools are no longer safe. Angie (Motshekga) and Lesufi (Panyaza) can say whatever they want to say but that does not translate into the safety of schools. Teachers are just going there to risk their lives because learners are violent towards teachers and no one is saying anything about that,” he said.

*In January 2018, a 15 -year-old Grade 8 pupil was charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a teacher to death for failing him.

*In September 2018, a 17-year-old Zeerust, North West, high school pupil was arrested after allegedly stabbing his teacher, Gadimang Mokolobate, to death.

The killings have raised concerns with school governing bodies.

National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) general-secretary Matakanye Matakanye said the body has been urging Minister Motshekga to call for a national school safety summit since 2018.

“We feel parents and communities must stand up and stop the carnage, otherwise it is the end of education in the republic, no teachers, no formal education. We have convened the National School Safety Summit, to once again relook into 2018 resolutions, mobilise parents,students,communities and also collaborate with Sadtu on their (I am a school fan) on the 1and 2 April, 2022.

“Government must provide a budget to prioritise school safety, strengthen community policing forums, intensify SGB training, and adopt a cop campaign. School safety must be on top of their priorities in parliament in the education portfolio committee,” said Matakanye.

Dr Anthea Cereseto of the Governing Body Foundation said: “This issue is serious as it creates a constant feeling of being unsafe. This affects the emotional state of everyone in a school. If emotions are focused on fear, the ability to learn is undermined. Government must strengthen all measures dealing with the prevention of crime and prosecution of cases. If it is likely you will get away with it, there is no deterrent.”

Education activist Hendrick Makaneta said the level of ill discipline amongst learners is beyond reproach. He said the situation is so bad that many of our teachers have given up on instilling discipline properly.

“But even those who try to instill discipline, are very careful as they have to constantly watch their backs. The reality is that it's not all schools that experience violence. Private schools seem to be experiencing minimal levels of violence as opposed to public schools which experience more violence,” said Makaneta

Makaneta said violence in schools is caused by a wide range of factors. “Teachers teach angry learners. There are learners who have deep seated issues that emanate from their community. Some of the learners use drugs which lead to ill discipline,” he said.

“Others may generally be issues of peer pressure along with alcohol abuse. There are also issues of learners who grew up under an abusive environment and they too find themselves repeating the cycle of the abuse that they went through. It's a societal issue. These issues also find expression in communities. If a community is violent, it spreads to learners as well because learners are members of the community.”

A psychiatrist, Dr Hemant Nowbath, said the first thing to look at is the aggressive behaviour of a child irrespective of who it's directed at.

“Often children would model their behaviour on people around them. They look at the way adults behave. We look at the way people out there function in general. If you look at very similar events in the country and they see what's going on.”

Asked if the behaviour can be attributed to mental illness, Nowbath said: “There are two parts, which are role models for the manner of socialisation, looking at the violence out there. Looking at what they see and observe, especially kids in townships, in the streets, what they pick up from gangs who are role models, gang members, but that's one thing.

“The other part will be a function of mental illness. Mental illness has many roles to it. If we are talking about a primary psychotic disorder, like schizophrenia, really a small number of those patients are actually aggressive. The other probably the most significant factor is mental illness, as a result of substance use disorders, the use of substances.”

Sunday Independent