If violence, abuse and drug use are allowed to become a familiar and accepted part of schooling, the future is lost, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said on Tuesday.
She was speaking at a school-safety colloquium in Pretoria.
”All of us must act and act in unison to indicate that these objectionable forms of conduct have no place in education,” Pandor said.
She said all schools needed to be fenced, security staff engaged and counsellors contracted in order to protect teachers and pupils.
Pandor, however, said she remained convinced that parents should bear the primary responsibility for the conduct and discipline of their children.
”Schools are not mini-prisons and teachers cannot be expected to serve as correctional-services officers to wild and unruly students.”
She said the national curriculum must promote positive values and should strengthen attention to respect for others and the promotion of the dignity of all people.
”If we intend to build a crime-free country, we should stop young people from starting crime at school,” she said. — Sapa