SEBOKENG. – MEC for Education, Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Cde Lebogang Maile, on Tuesday led the ‘It Takes a Village to Raise a Child’ Community Outreach Programme at Bafokeng Primary School in Palm Springs last Tuesday afternoon.

The programme engaged the community on critical issues affecting schools, including learner safety, crime, vandalism, substance abuse, and other social challenges impacting education across Gauteng, as well as matters relating to sport, arts, culture, and recreation in our communities.

The engagement reaffirmed the commitment to building safer schools, strengthening communities, and creating an enabling environment for learners to thrive.

Maile shared his vision for strengthened school safety in Gauteng schools, including the long-term ideal of equipping schools with classroom cameras, alarm systems, access control, and armed response to protect learning environments from misconduct, ill-discipline, and other unlawful acts.

He emphasised that effective governance requires moving beyond identifying challenges to implementing practical solutions, with school safety highlighted as a key priority area.

The MEC noted that investments in school safety can be advanced through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), ensuring progress despite budget constraints. He added that such interventions would not only safeguard schools, but also contribute to safer surrounding communities.

MEC Maile further highlighted the important role parents must play in supporting learner success, stating that,

 “The problem is parents don’t care what their children are doing at school, or whether they are attending classes at school or not. We need to find a way of forcing parents to be involved in the education of their children.”