Schools – are they becoming places of violence and weeping?

LISTEN:  Terence Pillay asks why the Department of Education simply suspending these offenders and not laying criminal charges: 

Recently, there were seven teachers that were suspended as a result of beating up children at school. It’s been happening so frequently that I’ve actually lost count of the number of incidents that have been reported over the last few weeks. But there seems to be a pandemic of corporal punishment taking place in schools – an act that is illegal in this country.

The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga commenting on the case of the child that was gang raped by a principal and some teachers, said: “While corporal punishment is regarded as unlawful, 50% of pupils across the country have experienced such punishment at some point in their schooling career, with KwaZulu-Natal leading with 71%. In Gauteng, it has gone down to 34%. There is a high level of violence in KZN and that culture gets into our schools. We need to have a holistic programme to address this. We have agreed to strengthen the hand of SACE [South African Council of Educators] in disciplining teachers.”

But here’s what the union guy had to say to the Citizen newspaper:  “Violence by teachers could be a result of a lack of discipline by the pupils. Discipline has “gone down in our schools”, he said.

“They [teachers] have a situation whereby learners are not cooperating. More important for me is the question of our value system. Not only at school level, but in our community.” And the article says that even though he condemned violence towards pupils as unethical, criminal and immoral, he said some teachers were “beating them out of care and love”.

“When someone you care about disappoints you, you lose it. It’s not something that you plan. It’s when you are confronted with a situation. That being said, teachers should not be doing what they are doing. We need to find better ways of disciplining learners.” These were the words of the SADTU secretary general, Nkosana Dolopi.

I’m sorry, but you do not beat someone out of care or love. I don’t care what world you’re living in, that is totally unacceptable! Yes, teachers need to find better ways of disciplining children. And children are always going to act out – that’s what they are – teenagers and adolescents full of hormones; they’re going to find ways to push the boundaries. And if you as a teacher are not capable of creating a disciplined environment, then you should find work somewhere else. It speaks to your ability as a teacher, not the child.

Although there have been many reported incidents recently, I don’t think there’s a surge in this type of behaviour. I believe that it’s always been happening; it’s just that more and more children now have access to phones that are able to record this kind of thing and distribute this information via social networks. I think teachers have been beating children all the time; it’s just that it’s now coming to the surface because there’s a way to record it.

Obviously parents have a role in this too. They should make their children understand that when they are at school, they are expected to behave themselves. I think parents tend to abdicate their responsibility – they think it’s the teacher’s responsibility. And children spend about six hours a day at school, about two hundred days a year – that’s a lot of their time and I understand that teachers have to take an important role but it all starts at the home. What kind of environment are you exposing those children to?

The teacher that beat those two girls in the video making its rounds on social media – and it was a particularly violent beating at that – has simply been suspended by the Department of Education pending an investigation. There was video evidence of this assault on a minor, so why wasn’t he criminally charged and sent to jail? It should be a dismissible offence – immediately dismissible! What more do you need? Yes you can go through a process, but that process should be rapid. You say, “You did this. Here’s the evidence. It’s against the law. You’re going to be criminally charged and you’ve lost your job!” It’s really as simple as that.

Right now, that guy is on the run, suspended pending an investigation and he has access to those children and their families, who he can intimidate – if he was that violent in the classroom in front of witnesses, imagine what else he is capable of?

The fact is: teachers are fairly influential in communities; principals even more so. And in one of these incidents you have a situation where a principal allegedly raped a child and called some teachers to join in – and there is video evidence of it. It’s unacceptable that the Department of Education is simply condemning it. Do something more impactful – criminally charge these men!

And with the case teacher that beat up the girls in the classroom in full view of their peers – what kind of message is the Department sending out by simply suspending the man? What are they saying to the girls who have been assaulted so violently – that their case isn’t important or urgent enough to pursue more vigourously? School is meant to be a safe space.

There needs to be an urgent crackdown on these teachers. And they should never be allowed to teach again; they should never be allowed to go near children. Some schools – especially the private schools – do a strict background check and security clearance on all their teachers. And what this security clearance tells them is that you are not on the register for sex offenders or have any kind of criminal record involving minors. What’s more is that it’s the teacher’s responsibility to maintain a clear record. And if they do pick up anything in your background, you shouldn’t be allowed to teach. The child’s right to safety far outweighs some criminal’s right to earn a living. They should think about these repercussions before going off and beating or raping a child.

These incidents are not just a labour relations issue. It’s a criminal matter. Are we seeing evidence that the Department of Education is taking action? Surely if there’s evidence out there, the justice system like the police or the Department of Public Prosecutions should get involved. In the absence of the children or parents themselves laying a charge, surely it’s incumbent on one of these organisations, if not the schools, to lay charges. These are not civil matters, they are criminal matters. There needs to be swifter action.

And with the Department’s disciplinary process there should be a parallel criminal process. If this person broke the law, he should face the might of the law. The offender made a choice to behave in this criminal matter, and so he should be sitting awaiting trial with other criminals – not suspended, sitting at home eating pancakes.

What would you, as a parent, do if your child was violently beaten at school by a teacher and all the Department of Education did was suspend this teacher?

You can email Terence Pillay at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @terencepillay1 and engage with him there.