Pupil safety in the Western Cape is under threat with gang violence, alcohol and drug abuse playing a major role at schools.
Briefing the Western Cape legislature’s standing committee on education on Tuesday, lobby group Equal Education (EE) told members about the challenges facing pupils.
The EE said it had conducted a survey at 40 Cape Town schools across four education districts, between August and September 2019, which clearly showed the challenges pupils face in schools.
The schools were in the City Bowl, Elsies River, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Langa, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi, and Strand.
EE said, although their survey was conducted several years ago, the situation in schools was still the same, if not worse.
The report, titled “iSafety Ngoku, Seeking Sanctuary in Western Cape Schools”, was released in April this year, with Equal Education highlighting school fights, stabbings and sexual harassment as being prevalent at these schools.
Stacey Jacobs, a researcher at EE, said they had found drug use was prevalent at 85% of schools they visited, while alcohol was used at more than half of the schools.
Jacobs said burglaries had occurred at more than half of the schools, while significant vandalism was also considered a threat at 50% of the schools.
“Gang violence was a major learner safety issue occurring at 53% of the schools,” she said.
EE found that while the 40 schools had some form of fencing, some did not meet the 1.8m requirement or cover the entire perimeter.
Western Cape EE head Ntsikie Dlulani told the committee that only five schools had fencing, but that it did not cover the entire boundary as required by law.
Twenty-nine schools had security guards but, at all but two, they were a resident or parent without formal training.
Dlulani said 87% of schools had alarm systems, but more than half were only installed in the admin block. Meanwhile, 30 out of 40 schools had safety plans, but 12 reported not using them.
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In its report, EE recommended that the Department of Basic Education order a revised national school violence study, and for the provincial education department to co-ordinate with the national department to ensure full compliance with security measures, as required by school infrastructure laws.
It also recommended that the provincial education department support schools in setting up functional safety committees, and assist them in increasing access to psycho-social support services.
Highlighting the fencing issue, ACDP MPL Ferlon Christians said there were budgetary constraints facing the department.
“We are not going to get more money for these issues to be fixed,” he said.
ANC MPL Khalid Sayed said the presentation was very concerning.
“There is a great need for support for learners and teachers who are affected by crime and violence in schools,” he said, adding that there should be dedicated psychologists at schools.
In April, the WCED announced that R76.1 million had been allocated on securing schools and promoting pupil safety.
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