North school ‘free for all’ – Education MEC
"No one is not involved, from learners bringing alcohol and dagga to school, teachers with allegations of sexual harassment, school management not managing the school, it's a mess."
The school in the North of Pretoria has been placed on the top of the Gauteng Department of Education priority list following concerns raised by learners and other stakeholders recently.
Spokesperson Steve Mabona said learners at the troubled Filadelfia secondary school in Soshanguve embarked on a series of protests which were sometimes violent.
Mabona said the learners were unhappy about several issues, including school infrastructure, lack of learner and teacher support material, concerns with the quality of food, and allegations of sexual harassment.
During last week Thursday’s visit to the school, Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi said the school had become “a free for all”, and that no one was respecting anyone at the school.
“These are learners with special needs but they are treating them like third-class citizens. I told them they are messing up the school.
“No one is not involved, from learners bringing alcohol and dagga to school, teachers with allegations of sexual harassment, school management not managing the school, it’s a mess.”
Mabona said Lesufi met with learner representatives and school management on Tuesday, and described the situation at the school as “completely unacceptable”.
He said Lesufi acknowledged that learners informed him about their issues, including the problems of cold water, electricity (or lack thereof), old mattresses (in the school hostel), and lack of curtains including the fact that at weekends some learners were drinking alcohol and smoking dagga.
“MEC Lesufi added that while he had given himself and the department two weeks to attend to the issues raised by the learners, he was aware that some matters required urgent and immediate attention – especially the serious allegations of sexual harassment raised by the learners.
“An employee (educator) who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a learner/s is reporting to the district (office) until all the investigations are complete. All the necessary disciplinary action will be undertaken accordingly.”
Mabona said Lesufi urged learners to also change their behaviour and protect the school, adding that the department will set up a strong disciplinary committee to deal with issues of discipline and consequence management.
Mabona said Lesufi told the learners that there were three categories of discipline that were non-negotiable.
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“The first one is violence. Anyone who fights another person on the school premises is going to be expelled. Secondly, sexual harassment – anyone who forces somebody to do something they don’t want is going to be disciplined. The third one is drugs and alcohol, anyone who brings drugs and alcohol onto these premises must know they are going to be expelled.
“The MEC further committed to strengthening security at the school, saying the GDE will be fixing the school fence. Another major commitment made by MEC Lesufi is that the school’s new hostel would be opened on September 1. The school’s tuck shop would also soon start operating, a move aimed at preventing the learners’ demands to go to outside shops.
“MEC Lesufi also committed the department to attend to the school grounds, the swimming pool and the tennis/basketball court so that learners participate in sports. The department will also attend to all the academic-related matters such as procuring textbooks and learning material while ensuring that there were no shortages of teachers.”
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