Rising violence in schools has prompted the South African Onderwysersunie (SAOU) to call on the Education Minister to ‘take necessary steps to curtail violence and instill a culture of discipline in schools’.
Chris Klopper, CEO of the SAOU, said at a conference to discuss discipline and violence in schools that, by common definition, “Discipline, which must exist in an individual, arises from effective external control, and that genuine self-discipline takes time to develop.

The SAOU called on the Minister to take steps as a matter of priority.
Second, to fast-track a process whereby perpetrators of criminal activities in schools are channeled to rehabilitative processes away from the schools.
In this regard the Minister is called upon to increase the number of social workers, psychologists and other therapists employed in the education system.
A silent majority of learners suffers serious neglect as a consequence of time spent trying to deal with a vocal and highly disruptive minority.
“Pupil-on-pupil, pupil-on-teacher and teacher-on-pupil violence must come to an end. Murder and rape at schools cannot be tolerated, and the Minister has the duty to recognise the rights of victims and to protect them from the current scourge of violence and indiscipline sweeping the schools.
“The unwillingness of departmental officials to recognise and apply sound principles of retributive justice in cases referred to them by the schools is leading to increased destabilisation and thuggery in schools.”