Pretoria - The Department of Basic Education has urged the Congress of South African Students (COSAS) to retract its call for pupils to retaliate with violence when confronted with corporal punishment by teachers.
The department said the call is completely unacceptable and it cannot allow a situation where schools are turned into war zones, or places where violence between teachers and learners becomes common place.
“This call has the risk of escalating the incidents of violence where both learners and teachers could be at risk of serious harm and will not be tolerated in any school.
“There is a concern that the irresponsible behaviour of COSAS could result in learners bringing weapons to school and teachers doing the same in an attempt to defend themselves, such a scenario could quickly deteriorate out of control and have dire consequences,” the department said.
It warned that any learner who is found to be promoting violence in schools will face disciplinary action as there are other avenues they can follow to report and deal with illegal corporal punishment.
“The South African Council of Educators (SACE) is responsible for ensuring that teachers uphold the highest standards of professionalism and they will manage the disciplinary matter of any teacher found in breach of the rules.”
The department called upon COSAS to assist learners by ensuring they report cases of corporal punishment as opposed to encouraging retaliation. – SAnews.gov.za
