SACE says sexual abuse by educators up over 230% – report
The council says in the past five years, 93 cases of sexual misconduct against teachers were dealt with.
Picture for illustration. File image.
Members of parliament (MP) heard on Thursday that reports of sexual abuse by teachers increased by more than 230% over the past five years.
EWN reports that this was revealed by the South African Council of Educators (SACE), which said it had handled complaints of corporal punishment, verbal abuse, sexual misconduct, and rape.
It was reported that offenders in sexual cases were mostly teachers aged between 45 and 54.
SACE CEO Ella Mokgalane was quoted as saying that when a sexual abuse-related case was dealt with “a learner remains a learner”.
An MP of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Nomsa Marchesi reportedly asked SACE why sexual abuse cases had not been reported to authorities.
Marchesi reportedly expressed her concern over cases were learners were abused but these were not reported to the police.
“What prevented you from doing that?”
SACE’s annual report revealed that 93 cases of sexual misconduct against teachers in the past five years were dealt with.
(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu.)
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