Cape Town - With regard to our article “Western Cape teachers top list of shame” on Tuesday October 4, Western Cape Education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond has responded as follows:
Yes, there were indeed 85 cases of corporal punishment in the previous financial year, all reported to the WCED, investigated and all 85 cases reported to South African Council for Educators – SACE.
What is not being said, however, which has been reported by SACE previously, is that “there may be more cases reported in the Western Cape because a culture of reporting professional misconduct is higher in the province”.
We have strict policies and protocols in place which ensure that any educator or staff member who becomes aware of an incident of corporal punishment, or what we refer to as assault of a learner, has to report the matter to the WCED.
All educators are trained in our “Abuse No More Protocol”.
This Protocol outlines exactly what the processes are in this regard. We have a zero tolerance approach with regards to assault and corporal punishment.
All such allegations are regarded in a serious light and acted upon, as was the case in the previous financial year.
While we would want to see zero cases reported – if there are indeed no assaults taking place in our schools – we also want to see ALL cases reported if there are incidents, so that action can be taken against the perpetrators. So we take the matter of reporting incidents very seriously and constantly promote this within our schools.
We all know that in terms of Chapter 2, Section 28 (2) of the Constitution, the child’s best interest is of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child.
So, Section 10 of the South African Schools Act states that no person may administer corporal punishment at a school to a learner, and that any person who does so is guilty of an offence and, liable on conviction, to a sentence which could be imposed for assault.
The following policies and circulars are in place to protect the child’s best interest:
- The Abuse No More Protocol;
- Circular 12 of 2019: Prohibition of corporal punishment; and
- Circular 11 of 2019: Guidelines for principals on their role in reporting and managing alleged misconduct, disciplinary hearings and unfair dismissal disputes.
Corporal punishment is defined in the Abuse No More Protocol as:
“Any deliberate act against a child that inflicts pain or physical discomfort used to punish or contain him/her. This includes, but is not limited to, spanking, slapping, pinching, paddling or hitting a child with a hand or with an object; denying or restricting a child’s use of the toilet; denying meals, drink, heat and shelter; pushing or pulling a child by force; or forcing the child to do exercise.”
The Abuse No More Protocol spells out in detail the roles and responsibilities of all parties in dealing with case of abuse.
It prescribes an approach for employees of the WCED to identify, intervene, report, and provide support in cases of child abuse, deliberate neglect and to children who are victims of sexual offences.
The Department presents various training and induction sessions at district, school and head office level that raise awareness on abuse and the consequences thereof.
It is very important that victims, not just of corporal punishment, but also of any other kind of abuse, know that there is help available for them.
The Abuse No More Protocol outlines in detail the process to be followed when a learner reports any kind of abuse, providing advice on reporting procedures, how to support victims, and how to deal with perpetrators.
We have a strong support pathway in place to ensure that learners receive the help they need from our district specialist support staff, counsellors and social workers, non-governmental organisations and other Western Cape Government departments.
The Department has 64 circuits. In each circuit we have allocated a social worker and a psychologist, for a total of 128 support professionals. We are the only education department in the country to have a social worker for every circuit, with some provinces doing referrals to the Department of Social Development instead.
We are also in the process of appointing social auxiliary workers to capacitate the districts more. In this first phase we have appointed one per district.
We have also appointed 160 Care and Support Assistants (CSAs) in our “high risk“ schools: schools with great need for psycho-school support. The CSAs work closely with the circuit social workers.
Some schools also have their own social workers or counsellors, appointed by their School Governing Bodies. The Department works with the Department of Social Development and NGOs to assist us in dealing with certain issues.
Any incident involving abuse at schools can be reported to our toll-free Safe Schools call centre on 0800 45 46 47 – callers can also get advice. While the mechanisms to report such abuse are integral to this process, the Department can only institute disciplinary steps after reliable evidence has been found for charges of misconduct.
Cape Times