Daily News reports that education stakeholders have welcomed the dismissal of eight KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) education department officials for sexual misconduct, but cautioned that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
Spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa announced on the weekend that seven teachers and an administrator had been dismissed for sexual misconduct. Vee Gani, chairperson of the KZN Parents’ Association, welcomed the dismissals but said there were many more cases of people engaging in sexual misconduct, but with no repercussions. Indicating that there was no room in schools for sexual predators, Gani noted that parents sent their children to school for an education at a place where they should be protected, which was not the case. He lamented the drawn-out process of firing sex-pest teachers. Gani said he knew of cases where pupils had been abused by school officials in the past, with no action being taken. “Parents are not going to keep quiet now,” he stated. Childline KZN operations manager Adeshini Naicker said children should be made aware that gone were the days when they could totally trust teachers. Professor Labby Ramrathan, director of the School of Education Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said sexual violence was an old issue in schools. However, policies and laws had now changed to a point where teachers no longer exerted as great an influence as before. The problem was that the laws were not always consistently applied.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mphathi Nxumalo at Daily News
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