Minister of Education Kader Asmal is determined to make schools in South Africa safer. This is an excerpt from his speech at the launch of the Signposts for Safe Schools workbook in parliament
There are certain fundamental principles without which we cannot give our children the education they deserve. We must provide a safe school environment if we are to be successful in the achievement of our educational goals. We have no option but to succeed in overcoming violence, crime, bullying and vandalism in our schools.
The term “safe school” is bandied about by many, but what does it actually mean? I have spent considerable time thinking about what a safe school is, and I offer you this vision: In a safe school, the playgrounds are filled with the healthy noise of happy children. They run and kick balls. They scuff their knees and scrape their elbows, but they are not afraid of each other or of intruders. The classrooms are ordered and clean. The teachers are on time and are firm but friendly. There is glass in the windowpanes and there are books on the desks. Above all, people smile. There is an air of work being done and of achievement.
I am all too aware that many of our schools fall far short of this ideal.
Making schools safe means cracking down on sexual abuse and physical violence in and around the school, including the barbarism of so-called initiation ceremonies, and principals and teachers who continue illegally to inflict corporal punishment.
In reading through the Signpost for Safe Schools workbook I am impressed and encouraged for a number of reasons.
Firstly, the workbook takes a common-sense approach to school safety. There is nothing in this book that we do not already know, but so often we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by our circumstances. This workbook offers us the opportunity to take control.
Secondly, the workbook reminds us of the need to work together. No one person or agency can solve the problems we face. It is equally pointless to demand that, for instance, the police should take responsibility for safety, as it is to try to achieve it on our own. We must mobilise school governing bodies, community police forums, community-based organisations, business, government departments and local authorities. Each one of us has a vital role to play. No matter how high the fences are or how jacked up the security system, a school and its community are indivisible, and unless a school sees itself as part of its community, and engages in the broader fight against crime, it will not be safe itself. We must encourage communities to reclaim their local schools and turn them into sites of community activity.
Thirdly, the workbook acknowledges that the task ahead is not easy. Many of our schools operate in a broader environment of extreme oppression by gangs and exposure to criminal activity.
Perhaps the most important of all the role -players in this initiative are the learners themselves. In each of the projects described in this workbook, the learners are central, not only as beneficiaries but as participants in the process. Learners who participate in the building of safe schools will be developing skills and understanding that will significantly increase their resilience to crime and violence. They will be better equipped to fulfil their roles as the leaders of the future.
I invite everyone to take an active role in sharing the vision of making learning institutions places of respect for human dignity, respect for the preservation of human life and where learners can celebrate their innocence.
– The Teacher/M&Media, Johannesburg, August 2001.