OPINION | Government must find a way to protect teachers and principals in schools

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Education activist Hendrick Makaneta has called for government to find ways to protect teachers and principals in schools.

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

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

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

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 common cause that every year, teachers form part of statistics as a result of violence meted on them by learners. For how long should we lose teachers’ lives? When are we going to have peace in our schools?

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

We have always believed that violence against learners would only produce more violent learners. Yet, 30 years into democracy, today’s learners are more violent than those who grew up under apartheid.

Something drastic has to be done to curb the school violence. We have a collective responsibility as society to confront violence and bring it under control. 

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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 to help bring about justice to all victims of crime in our schools.

No one should be allowed to be a law unto themselves. In the same note, no one should be subjected to violence.