Sotyu promises to bolster FS schools’ safety committees

The deputy minister of police, Maggie Sotyu has vowed to beef up safety measures at schools after Free State schools appointed their own safety committees to protect staff, learners and school property.

Sotyu made this announcement last week during a celebration organised by the education department to mark Women’s Day.

The departments of police and basic education launched a partnership protocol on safety programmes in 2011 to be implemented at schools. The agreement was signed by the minister of basic education, Angie Motshekga and the minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa.

The protocol is headed by the police’s visible policing division and the basic education’s school safety and enrichment programmes. The departments acknowledged the fact that the issue of crime and violence at schools was shared responsibility and vowed to tackle the problem through the new protocol.

The protocol is divided into three phases: The first is linking about 9 000 schools in South Africa with police stations; establishing school safety committees; establishing crime prevention programmes and establishing reporting systems on school-based crime and violence.

Sotyu said the protocol is aimed at highlighting the responsibility of each party in promoting an environment that is conducive to learning and teaching in order to sensitise parents and to inform schools and all other parties with vested interest in school safety about the programmes that are being implemented.

The deputy minister said safety committee structures were implemented throughout the country and that they are operational at some schools while some schools still lack a clear understanding of how to implement the structure. She said she realised that most school safety committees that were elected in the province were not operational because they do not understand their roles.

She promised to meet with all the committees throughout the province, starting in Heilbron, to come up with ways to make the initiative work and successfully combat crime in schools.

“The need to promote safety in schools and to prevent young people from involving themselves in criminal activities cannot be overemphasised. The department of basic education and the SAPS are reinvigorating the implementation of school-based crime prevention programme,” said Sotyu.

Sotyu said the protocol was important because it outlines clear guidelines on how and who responds in situations of crime at schools.

The protocol, said Sotyu, will go a long way in instilling sound values for the positive development of young people into responsible citizens who respect the constitution.