Education

2.       My department has informed me of the following:

          (1)     There are a variety of policies and interventions which seek to improve learner behaviour and manage discipline in schools.

                   Some of the policies that guide the practices and attitudes to promote positive behaviour in schools are:

• SA Schools Act No. 84 of 1996
• Western Cape Provincial School Education Act 1997
• Alternatives to corporal punishment guidelines
• Regulations on disciplining, suspension and expulsion of learners
• A practical guide on learner discipline and school management

                   A school’s Code of Conduct must be reviewed and updated regularly to consider the challenges they face in their own unique school environment, in line with the relevant legislation.

                   Consequence management is dealt with decisively through disciplinary procedures.

                   Our province has a Safe Schools Call Centre which serves as a coordinating centre from which referrals are made to appropriate agencies and from which vital information is disseminated to relevant parties. Callers receive online debriefing in crisis calls and in non-crisis calls, and callers are directed, where necessary, to the counselling agencies of the department, non-governmental agencies and community-based organizations.

                                      Our district psycho-social support teams provide training and workshops within our schools to help teachers deal with stressful classroom situations and manage problem behaviour. Requests for support are made by schools through the Department’s support pathway. Online resources are also available to provide guidance and tips for teachers to use in the classroom.

                   The support teams can intervene on the learners’ side, seeking to identify problem behaviours early and make the necessary referrals for support, to avoid disruption and additional stress to teachers and other learners. Our boarder positive behaviour programmes encompass both learners and staff to increase resilience across the system.

                   Thousands of learners and teachers are reached through well-being promotion interventions and one-on-one sessions dealing with anxiety, bereavement, depression, abuse and trauma.

                   Sessions on “trauma-informed schools” and emotional first aid training also reached thousands of teachers across the province.

                   Every district has positive behaviour support programme which capacitates our teachers in dealing with disruptive behaviours in the classroom, and other strategies such as:

• Knowing your rights and responsibilities, based on the Labour Relations Act and Employment of Educators’ Act for all newly appointed educators as part of their Induction, but also for serving educators.
• Programmes on Alternatives to Corporal Punishment
• Relevant Psycho-social programmes to create resilience amongst educators to find alternative solutions to corporal punishment, like the Positive behaviour programme.
• Positive behaviour programmes, addresses aspects such as:

• Behaviour as a barrier to learning
• Trauma Informed Schools
• Anti-bullying/Anti-violence programmes / Peace education / Creating caring schools
• Restorative Discipline (Restorative justice)
• The vulnerability of boys (focus on boys)
• Circle of Courage
• Caring programmes for teachers.
• Prevention of Gender-Based Violence
• Substance Abuse prevention

Programmes to improve wellness, awareness, self-appreciation and leadership development include:

• Integrated holiday programmes
• After-school activities
• Cleaning-up campaign
• Back-to-school drives
• Debating teams
• Youth Camps
• Leadership Development
• Life Skills Programmes

Our department also benefits from the School Resource Officer project run by the City of Cape Town, which sees trained law enforcement officers stationed at 14 schools.

The Department of Community Safety assists the City of Cape Town in the funding of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers which are deployed to high risk areas, and benefit 13 schools.  

(2)       While we do not have empirical evidence to demonstrate such an impact, social problems like crime and gangsterism may affect a learner’s mental wellbeing and their motivation to attend school.

Schools follow up on absent learners on a regular basis but the lack of parental support in some communities makes this a very difficult task. School Safety Fieldworkers in our districts continuously follow up on learner truancy, meeting parents and mediating between schools, parents and learners to ensure re-integration into schools.