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Sunday Independent writes that teachers’ unions say their members feel under siege from communities who expect them to perform miracles and ensure that unqualified pupils pass and are promoted to the next grade.
This came after a deputy principal at Phomolong Secondary School, Thembisile Ngendane, was shot and killed, allegedly by a pupil, while sitting in her car outside the school gate on 21 January. Preliminary investigations by the police have revealed that three gunmen driving in a white vehicle shot Ngendane through the passenger window. National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) executive director Manuel Basil said there was a mind-shift in society as a whole, where teachers were expected to pass failed pupils or that they should not take corrective measures against pupils who failed to do their school work but expected to pass. “Society has changed and the expectations of teachers are more, but also the respect for teachers is less,” said Basil. He commented that incidents where teachers have been forced into a physical scuffle with a pupil showed deliberate targeting of teachers. SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Numusa Cembi said the union had noted a pattern of attacks in schools and “one can deduce that schools are being targeted”. The union has been engaging the department of education about upgrading security in schools. Teachers are said to fear for their safety as schools become more violent. According to education activist Hendrick Makaneta, the situation is so bad that many of our teachers have given up on instilling discipline properly. National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) general-secretary Matakanye Matakanye reported that the body has since 2018 been urging Minister Angie Motshekga to call for a national school safety summit.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tshepiso Tshabalala, Manyane Manyane and Roland Mpofu at Sunday Independent
- Read too, Teachers ‘abandon’ instilling discipline, on page 9 of Sunday Independent of 30 January 2022
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