Education
- Whether certain schools in the province are vandalised on a regular basis; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether her Department has a plan to reduce the reoccurrence of the vandalism; if not; why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION
5.
- Yes, certain schools have been subject to a number of incidents of burglary and vandalism in comparison to others. Our stats currently reveal that schools in lower income areas are more subssceptible to burglary and vandalism despite the WCED increasing security measures at these schools. The department reinforces security at some schools, for example, using electronic gates, alarm systems and burglar bars where these measures were not previously in place. The WCED refers to this approach as “target hardening”. However crime of this nature is fluid and shifts regularly.
Different schools are targeted at different times. However, schools in specific areas will experience more challenges than schools in other areas. The challenges are thus fluid and shift regularly.
- The WCED has a proactive plan to address vandalism. All schools have a safety committee (sub-committee of SGB) that is responsible to identify, in conjunction with the Safe Schools Coordinator, the security gaps at the school. These are prioritised and the schools are then supported. The first line of defence is an alarm linked to armed response. All schools are supported with alarms. It is the school’s responsibility to ensure that the alarm is functional by testing it regularly. Schools are encouraged to ensure that gates are locked and that the condition of the perimeter fence is in order to ensure effective access control. Schools need to ensure that there is proper lighting. Schools have been issued with a checklist that has 10 steps to be taken to ensure that a burglary or acts of vandalism are averted. The number and severity of acts of vandalism has decreased over the last few years as strategies are implemented to safe-guard schools.
The co-operation of the community is essential in order to combat vandalism and to create a safe school environment that promotes teaching and learning. We encourage dialogue with the community to enable the community to take ownership – this is the most effective strategy to address the challenge of vandalism. We also rely on the support of our law enforcement agencies to strengthen our strategy.
Community safety and crime control rests with SAPS. A strong presence by law enforcement agencies has also proven to be an effective strategy in combatting vandalism in our schools.
