Sexual Violence In Schools: briefing

Meeting report

CHILDREN, YOUTH AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE
5 September 2003
DEPARTMENT ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS: BRIEFING

Chairperson; Ms N Bogopane -Zulu ANC

Documents handed out:
Sexual Abuse of Learners: Progress Report

SUMMARY
The committee discussed various questions ranging from the counseling of abuse survivors to PTA's and the role of Taxi drivers in combating the abuse of school children.
Department of Education had an unambiguous policy of suspending teachers reported for abuse and expelling them if found guilty.

MINUTES
Ms P Tyobeka, Deputy Director General, Department of Education, briefed the Committee on the holistic approach from policy development including the Employment of Educators Act and the South African Schools Act, to life orientation and self defence programmes and the establishment of Safe Schools Call Centres.

Discussion
Dr U Roopnarain (IFP) asked if teachers accused of molestation, were allowed to continue teaching.

Ms P Tyobeka DDG, Quality Promotion and Development Department of Education said the department's policy was unambiguous, teachers accused of abuse should be suspended immediately and if found guilty expelled and de-registered.

Dr Roopnarain asked if counseling was offered to abuse survivors.

Ms Tyobeka said unfortunately not all school counselors enjoyed professional training. The more advantaged schools had better facilities and superior quality counseling. The department was considering clustering schools, and providing each cluster with a trained counselor.

Mr M Moss (ANC) said it appeared that children seemed isolated and had to face up to all the various threats. How did the department identify teachers to work in its support structures given the fact that teachers were often implicated in abuse cases?

Ms Tyobeka said the department believed only a small percentage of teachers were guilty of abuse. The department could not work from a premise of guilt, they believed and treated teachers as responsible adults. The department dealt firmly with all offenders.
The department wanted to work closely with SALGA and a small task team had been established to investigate possible options.

Ms L Mbuyazi (IFP) asked what the department was doing to educate people against the prevailing concepts of male dominance in society. Did the department have information on special schools as children had to spend extended periods of time at such schools.

Ms Tyobeka said the Programmes for Learners in Distress focused on vulnerable groups such as disabled children, and orphans. It was important to continuously monitor youth centres and the department would continue this into the future. Ms Tyobeka said the Gender Unit dealt gender relations and the department was fortunate to have good and creative leadership.

Ms Mbuyazi asked whether principals discussed abuse related issues in their PTA meetings.

Ms Tyobeka said she could not say with certainty that principals discussed these matters in PTA meetings.

Ms N Bogopane- Zulu (ANC) asked what alternative sanction existed for suspension in abuse cases. The committee had heard of teachers being allowed to continue work in specific cases.

Ms Tyobeka said the departments policy was clear any allegations of abuse would result in immediate suspension. She acknowledged the policy was not uniformly implemented but the department was working to ensure the uniform implementation thereof.

Ms Bogopane- Zulu asked in which provinces and schools were the Self defence programmes provided.

Ms Tyobeka said the programme was provided in all provinces and all nodal areas. She promised to forward the committee a detailed list all of schools that participated in the programme. Sexual harassment policy contained many generic aspects. The department encouraged creative community involvement, especially in the rural areas.

Mr P Maloyi (ANC North West) asked whether the abuse of learners by learners was on the increase.

Ms Tyobeka said it was difficult to ascertain whether an increase in reported cases reflected an increase in abuse or a more enabling environment for children to report abuses.

Mr Maloyi asked whether the Safe Schools Call Center in the North West was situated in an urban or rural area.

Ms Tyobeka said one pilot project existed in the North West province. She promised to forward the member more information shortly on this issue.

Mr Maloyi expressed the hope that taxi associations were also participating in the Departments programmes. He spoke of the phenomenon of 'Taxi Queens' and said many taxi drivers were guilty of child abuse.

Ms Tyobeka said they interacted mostly with the department of Transport but agreed Taxi associations could play amajor role in addressing the problems of abuse.

Mr Maloyi asked for more information on children's rights training provided for teachers.

Ms Tyobeka said the department had made this part of its continuos development as well as pre-service training .

Mr Moss asked what proportion of schools had been involved in the various courses provided by the department.

Ms Tyobeka said the department also dealt with the specific needs of different areas, like gangs in the Western Cape and other urban centers. In a rural area, students stoned a principal that they accused of bewitching them. She added 50 % of schools would be reached in the next two years and all nodal areas would be covered by the department's programmes.

A committee member said School Governing bodies could play an effective role in the prevention of child abuse in schools.

Ms Tyobeka said the Department's policy required all schools to have a Safe School Committee, but unfortunately few schools had established them. She said the department wanted to strengthen PTA's and were looking at forming schools clusters to more effectively utilize available skills.

Mr Maloyi said men could make a difference and should be equally involved in the Girls Education Movement.

Ms Tyobeka said this was an affirmative action programme intended to develop girls' life skills. She agreed that men had an important role to play. Ms Tyobeka said black men still had difficulty relating to matters of abuse.

The meeting was adjourned.