South African Department of Education’s health and safety requirements for schools in Kempton Park

Health and safety in schools in Kempton Park is considered serious by the Department of Basic Education. It is also an apex priority of the department, which is the reason why several policies and measures were put in place to ensure the safety of learners, educators and stakeholders.

Requirements as per the Department of Education

As reiterated by the department, there is zero tolerance where violence, drug use, abuse, sexual harassment and all other criminal acts are concerned in schools, as it poses a substantial barrier to the learning capabilities of learners.

A considerable amount of focus is placed on the inculcation of values, ethics and a caring society that exists amongst schools and communities. Any non-compliance is thus viewed by the department in a serious light, as actions may result in depriving learners of inherent constitutional rights to life, education and dignity.

Various interventions focus on and address elements of physical infrastructure, including adequate fencing, alarm systems, burglar-proofing and others. It also includes programmes associated with building resilience in young people and serves to strengthen partnerships with stakeholders.

A solid partnership exists between the department and the South African Police Service (SAPS). It focuses on joining schools and local police stations, and through this establishes a functional School Safety Committee. Schools are critical in instilling discipline and ensuring safety, placing a substantial emphasis on Codes of Conduct for learners at all public schools. Due to this, schools are personally responsible for providing a conductive environment and ensuring that the highest quality of teaching is provided.

In addition, schools must promote the rights, health and safety of all learners in schools, as well as those of teachers, parents and any visitors to the schools’ premises.

The National School Safety Framework was developed to serve as a management tool for both provincial and district officials responsible for health and safety in schools for learners, principals, senior management team members, SGB members and teachers.

This serves to identify and manage all risks and threats of violence that exist, or has the potential of existing, around schools.

In addition, a National Strategy for the prevention and management of alcohol and drug use amongst learners in schools was developed. Schools often mirror communities around them and curbing alcohol and drug use in schools may lead to prevention of such use in communities, rendering them safer for inhabitants.

As per the Regulations for Safety Measures at all public schools, overviewed in the segments below, the Minister has declared that all public schools are drug-free and dangerous weapon-free zones.

Sexual harassment and violence have proven to have a negative impact on learning environments, as they create an atmosphere of fear and aggression. Learners must not be subjected to conditions such as these in their learning experience.

For this reason, the Guidelines for the Prevention and the Management of Sexual Violence and Harassment were developed and subsequently distributed to schools. The aim of these guidelines is to support schools and surrounding communities to promptly respond to cases of sexual harassment and/or violence against learners.

The guidelines clearly indicate how public schools must treat victims of sexual harassment and violence. In addition, they provide the steps that must be taken to deal with such cases and those who have committed such acts.

Regulations for safety measures at public schools

These specific regulations apply to all public schools in South Africa, without exemptions. The regulations provide support with the provision of any other applicable laws and cover several topics. It also provides the parameters associated with the following:

• Violence- and drug-free status of all schools.
• Access to public school premises.
• Exemption of certain persons.
• Visits to public schools by public and political office bearers.
• Visits to public schools by parents.
• School activities.
• Organisation of a school activity.
• Consent
• Transport
• Physical activities.
• Emergency and fire procedures.
• Early release from school.
• Delegation of powers, and
• General regulations.

Importance of these regulations and the reason for managing health and safety in schools

Health and safety must be managed in schools to provide learners, teachers and all visitors with a healthy and safe environment.

Health and safety in schools is a crucial factor due to the nature of the environment provided by schools. The importance of health and safety is akin to that of workplaces in any other industry. Members of the school community each have their responsibilities where safety, health and welfare are concerned, not only for themselves, but also others.

It is therefore important that staff, students and visitors clearly understand and acknowledge their responsibilities towards health and safety in a school environment, how they overlap and how they need to be complied with.

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