1. DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education
School Safety
12 October 2017

2. Presentation Outline Overview School Safety Framework
Current data on school violence
Key Findings of the National School Violence Studies
DBE Response to School Safety
Current Programmes
Bullying and violence in schools
School Safety Summit
Protocol – Corporal Punishment
Alcohol and substance use/abuse
Conclusion 2

3. Overview
Several studies suggest that violence is common throughout many schools in South Africa.
Communities with high neighbourhood crime and violence experience higher levels of crime and violence in their schools.
Family and community factors intersect with the levels of violence and crime that occur in schools.
Schools that are poorly managed and governed have higher rates of violence and crime.
The classroom is the primary site of violence and victimisation- this happens mostly when the teacher is not present.
Violence at school is often not limited to once-off encounters.
Perpetrators of violence and crime seldom come from outside the school.
School safety and bullying directly impact learning outcomes. 3

4. Surveys on School Violence in SA (2008 and 2012)
The Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention(CJCP) conducted two surveys on crime and violence in schools on behalf of the DBE that has enabled us to identify trends.
These studies revealed that most schools had similar safety and security challenges which can be grouped as follows:
Physical infrastructure and equipment;
Safety and security;
Management and governance; and
Partnership.
School violence encompasses physical violence, including corporal punishment; psychological violence, including verbal abuse; sexual violence, including rape and harassment; and bullying, including cyberbullying inside and outside the classroom, around schools, on the way to and from school. 4

5. Location of violence in schools, CJCP 2012
Threats
Assault
Sexual assault
Robbery
Theft
Classrooms
44.3
51.0
54.2
60.2
91.5
School gate area
1.0
0.6
0.0
0.8
Playing fields
25.0
24.8
13.2
14.0
4.6
Corridors
11.1
5.0
11.4
7.2
1.1
Toilets
4.1
5.5
12.5
6.8
0.3
Other open grounds
13.5
11.8
6.6
6.4
Halls
0.4
0.2
Principal’s office
3.4 5

6. Figure 1: Experiences of violence at school (%), CJCP 20126

7. Figure 3: Feelings of fear by gender (%). CJCP 20127

8. Figure 1: Percentage of learners who experience corporal punishment at school by province – (GHS, 2015) 8

9. Figure 2: Percentage of learners who experience corporal punishment at school by Metropolitan areas. (GHS, 2015) 9

10. DBE Responses
School safety is a shared mandate across different government departments.
The 2011 protocol between DBE and SAPS is one such example
The protocol is based on the following assumptions:
School violence is underpinned by a range of individual, school, family and community factors;
Programmes to address violence in school must extend beyond the school; and
Parental and community support are the most effective interventions to support safety in schools. 10

11. DBE-SAPS Protocol
To strengthen School Safety Committees – have the police play a role on the committee.
Link schools to the local police.
Mobilise communities to take ownership of schools.
To encourage the establishment of reporting systems at schools.
To implement school based crime prevention programmes.
Around schools have been linked to local police stations. 11

12. DBE-SAPS Protocol (Cont)
Specialised interventions for hotspot schools.
Visible policing and patrols provided.
Joint planning with SAPS and the DBE.
Evidence-based programming in schools that reach beyond the school.
Search and seizures at identified hotspot schools to address the presence of weapons and drugs in schools.
Closing illegal shebeens and liquor outlets within a 500m radius from schools. 12

13. NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY FRAMEWORK (NSSF)
Based on the outcomes of the NSVS, a National School Safety Framework (NSSF) was developed and approved in 2015.
The NSSF is a whole school approach to safety that targets the different role-players of the school – teachers, learners, parents and the local community
It provides tools for Provincial and District Officials responsible for school safety, principals, School Management Teams, SGBs, teachers and learners to identify and manage risks of violence in and around schools.
The main objectives of the Framework are:
Assist the school in understanding and identifying all security issues and safety related threats.
Guide schools to effectively respond to identified security issues and threats.
Create reporting systems and manage reported incidents appropriately.
Help the school to monitor their progress over time.
Training of NSSF master trainers was rolled out in all provinces. School based NSSF training is currently being rolled out in districts. 13

14. PREVENTION OF BULLYING IN SCHOOLS
Rates of bullying in South African schools remain very high. Bullying is prevalent across schools.
Our focus is on physical, verbal, cyber and homophobic bullying.
The underlying causes of school violence and bullying include gender and social norms and wider contextual and structural factors.
The most vulnerable children and adolescents, including children with disabilities, are at higher risk of school violence and bullying.
Training manuals on the prevention and management of bullying, including cyber and homophobic bullying, have been developed and made available to schools
DBE has also developed E-Safety Guidelines to address cyber-bullying
A bullying prevention programme has been developed and will be rolled out in schools. This will include a social media campaign built on the slogan STOP, WALK, TALK.
This bullying prevention programme will be implemented with the support of various partners. 14

15. ADDRESSING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
The Minister hosted a School Safety Summit in December 2015 to:
Discuss the challenges related to school safety, and to seek innovative solutions to these.
To address the scourge of corporal punishment in the education system.
The Summit adopted a Declaration committing all stakeholders to:
Working together to build peace, security and respect for our foundational constitutional values of human dignity, equality, and freedom in all our schools and school communities.
ii. Building a values-driven culture that promotes non-violence and respect for fundamental human rights in all our schools, thereby strengthening relationships between learners, teachers, parents and communities.
iii. Promising transparency and trust within schools, with safety seen as a shared and common good.
iv. Eradicating corporal punishment from all our schools and to work towards building a culture of positive discipline, including reinforcing the fact that corporal punishment is outlawed and that the practice in whatever form will not be tolerated.
v. Ensure that learners and educators learn/teach without fear, including ensuring that all schools are free from bullying and all forms of abuse and sexual violence. 15

16. PROTOCOL ON MANAGEMENT OF THE INCIDENTS OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT
The Summit also tasked the Department, together with key stakeholders to develop a protocol for the management of corporal punishment.
2. The CEM of 14 – 15 September 2017 approved the Protocol on the Management of Incidents of Corporal Punishment for implementation.
3. The protocol foregrounds the following areas:
The steps to be taken by provincial, district, circuit and school SMT in reporting the incidents of corporal punishment
It outlines a complaints procedures for learners and parents
It outlines labour relations processes in response to educators who still administer corporal punishment
It provides alternative approaches in dealing with learner ill-discipline through Positive Behaviour Intervention Programmes (PBIS). 16

17. ALCOHOL AND SUBSTANCE USE/ABUSE
The accessibility of alcohol and drugs within the school environment has been found to influence the levels of violence within schools.
The learners participating in the 2012 NSVS demonstrated an acute awareness of people at their schools who were involved in various substance-related activities, ranging from using drugs (47.1% knew people who smoked marijuana; 12.2% knew people who used illicit drugs), to buying (12.7%) or selling drugs (6.3%).
The DBE has developed a National Strategy for the Prevention and Management of Alcohol and Drug Use amongst Learners in Schools.
A Guide to Drug Testing in South African Schools has also been developed and made available to schools.
This is an area of work that requires increased cooperation between the various arms of government – Education, Social Development, Health and Police. 17

18. Conclusion
An effective and comprehensive Education Sector approach to school violence and bullying encompasses the following elements:
Leadership: the department has embarked on the development of school management, principals and the deputies through the Advanced Diploma in Education (ADE), to effectively management schools and support educators and learners.
Capacity: training and support for teachers and other staff to ensure that schools build alternative forms of discipline that do not rely on violence, or threats of violence.
Partnerships - Strengthen the protocols signed with SAPS (and common monitoring tool), Department of Transport and its agencies, RTMC, RAF, etc. Also strengthen partnerships with teachers and teachers’ unions; working with families and communities; and the active participation of learners themselves.
2. Creating safe, violence- and threat free schools can only be achieved if all the role-players work together. 18

19. Recommendation
It is recommended that Portfolio Committee discusses progress with the implementation of Safety in Schools programmes and provide inputs and guidance.