SECURITY assistants will be deployed to at least 130 schools in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, after they were identified as vulnerable to crime.
It is one of the interventions announced by the Eastern Cape Department of Education MEC, Fundile Gade, at a news conference in Gqeberha on Thursday.
Sharon Maasdorp and Thembani Mtyida, Eastern Cape Department of Education Head of Department and Deputy Director-General respectively, were also in attendance.
The department launched an investigation in an attempt to determine whether it needs to urgently intervene, because increasing levels of crime are being reported at schools.
This investigation indicates that crime levels and drug abuse at schools are on the rise, and schools in the city’s northern suburbs and townships are considered hotspots, according to Maasdorp.
At each of the identified schools, two security assistants will be deployed for a year to carry out patrols.
Maasdorp points out that in some incidents in 2023 teachers were prevented from entering or leaving the school grounds.
Netwerk24 reported last year that robbers raided Redhouse Primary School and Nomathamsanqa Primary School in the metro, during school hours.
In another incident, the head of Gelvandale High School wrote a letter to parents in August, with a plea for help to tighten security due to gang violence spilling over from the streets to the school grounds.
In the same month, Bheki Cele, Minister of Police, was stopped by a parent during a visit to Helenvale who said that sending her Grade 1 child to school on certain days would be a death sentence, because of the gang violence.
Maasdorp said on Thursday that although the fight against crime and violence is not the duty of the education department, it understands that education and learning cannot take place in a dangerous environment.
According to Gade, the metro’s schools are prioritised, while schools in the Sarah Baartman and OR Tambo District Municipality will be next on the list.
Part of the department’s planned interventions against crime at schools involves awareness campaigns against gender violence and child trafficking, in collaboration with the police and community safety partners.
School governing bodies are also requested to adapt and renew their schools’ safety policy.
“The department wants to emphasise that there is no place for violence, drug use or abuse, sexual harassment, kidnapping, and other crimes in schools, as these pose a serious threat to learning and teaching.
“Some of these (crime incidents) are directly related to (low) school attendance and an increased dropout rate among pupils.”
The department has budgeted around R59 million for the tightening of security at schools across the province.
With this, the province will hire 1 000 security assistants.
Gade points out that the department does not only want to hire teachers, but also staff such as counsellors who can provide support services to ensure that social challenges in schools are effectively managed.
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