20 Sep 2020

Government is concerned with the increasing number of incidents of violence in public schools.

Presenting a statement before Parliament on Thursday,  Minister of Basic Education, Mr Fidelis Molao said his ministry was concerned with the new trends of bystanders who resorted to taking videos and posting them on social media platforms rather than calling for immediate help.

As an intervention, Minister Molao said schools management had  been urged to investigate such matters quickly so that reports reached the ministry within a week for decision making without fail.

He said his ministry has put in place the pastoral policy which was designed to address such indiscipline and psycho-social issues in schools.

“Through this policy schools are divided into smaller ‘house’ managed by a head of department,” minister said.

He further said HOD’s were  free to administer their house on a daily basis and take care of academic and psycho-social issues along with issues of discipline.

He said the pastoral policy was further supported by the presence of guidance and counselling staff in schools who had working relationships with local social services.

He further told Parliament that school management, supported by all staff, parents and local community leadership must work together to address the disturbing trend and restore peace and safety in all public schools.

Therefore, he appealed to legislators to engage their constituents to join hands with the ministry  to curb the unbecoming behaviour.

“It is our collective responsibility as a nation to instill principles of botho, tolerance and unity in our community to safeguard our reputation,” said Mr Molao.

He outlined some of the recent incidents of learners violating teachers, saying in Mahalapye three incidents had been recorded in the past 12 months, one at Mookane Junior Secondary School in 2019 when a Form 3 learner assaulted the school head after application of corporal punishment.

The second incident, Minister Molao said occurred in February 2020 when a learner at Madiba Senior Secondary School assaulted a teacher who asked him to tuck-in his shirt. He said the pupil had a long record of misdemeanours and was subsequently expelled from school in February 2020. He  noted that he was referred to the Department of Social Services for rehabilitation and mentoring.

He reassured that the ministry would continue to act decisively to ensure that schools were peaceful and safe and that the environment was conducive for teaching and learning

Still in Parliament, MPs raised concern over the high violent incidents in public schools which affected academic excellence in schools.

Gaborone Central MP, Mr Tumisang Healy  applauded the ministry initiatives to instill peace in school and urged the ministry to investigate whether the use of drugs and alcohol contributed to violence in schools.

Tonota MP, Mr Pono Moatlhodi said schools needed urgent attention to control violent tendencies through calling non-government organisations dealing with children to implement public education in schools.

He further suggested that  government should  engage security companies in schools to safeguard teachers and management in schools.

The MP for Thamaga–Kumakwane, Mr Palelo Mataosane applauded the initiative and called for the re-introduction of corporal punishment. ENDS