Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi. Photo: Nigel Sibanda.
Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi has pled with school governing bodies (SGBs) to strengthen security at schools across the province and establish disciplinary committees.
Lesufi’s plea comes after a 19-year-old learner from Forest High School in Turffontein, Johannesburg, was recently granted R5,000 bail after he was arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing a fellow student and wounding two others.
“I want to go to school [safely]. I want to plead with you, if you have not established a disciplinary committee with competent people, please do so now. We must take this fight back to these bullies and culprits. We are pleading with you,” Lesufi told stakeholders at a consultative meeting in Nasrec Expo Centre, Johannesburg, on Friday.
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Lesufi said school pupils who attacked their peers and, or, teachers should no longer be treated as learners and must be dealt with decisively.
“So, we are pleading with you SGBs, if such an incident happens, meet as quickly as possible,” Lesufi advised.
It was reported that Lesufi further told school pupils that their ill behaviour was now intolerable.
“We are pleading with you. If you want to be a student, we will treat you as a student but if you want to be a criminal, we will treat you as a criminal and to treat you like a criminal is very simple, we open the doors and gates of our schools and say [leave us alone, go find your peers outside and we know that your peers end up in orange overalls],” Lesufi said.
Meanwhile, the national department of education has appealed to stakeholders to stop violence at schools across the country.
The statement follows a number of violent incidents at schools across the country in recent weeks.
The department said on Thursday it was vital for pupils to understand that the reason for being in school was to get an academic education and called on them to refrain from violent and criminal activities.
(Additional reporting, ANA)
READ MORE: Stop violence in schools, Education dept appeals to all stakeholders
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