Photo Supplied: Gauteng Education MEC, Matome Chiloane
Physical violence at schools is not a new thing, but is enough being done to ensure it stops? These were the questions asked when a video of a physical altercation emerged between a Grade 9 male learner and his teacher went viral on social media, raising concerns about discipline.
The fight took place at Glenvista High School, Johannesburg. In the video, one can see how the two threw tables and chairs at each other in the classroom in the presence of other learners.
Gauteng Education and Youth Development MEC, Matome Chiloane said he is concerned by the behavior and the safety of both teachers and learners on school premises.
“We take this matter seriously. The safety of everyone on the premises of schools remains our utmost priority. However, such ill-discipline will not be tolerated. Schools are for development, not any other nefarious deeds. As such, we are investigating the circumstances surrounding this incident and we will act decisively on our findings,” Chiloane said.
Executive Director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA), Basil Manuel, described the incident as extremely worrisome. Manuel said that disciplinary issues are deteriorating in schools as a result of parents not disciplining their children and this tendency of feeling untouchable and getting away with a lot of wrong doings.
Manuel says the minute a quarrel between a teacher and a learner begins, the teacher has lost control of the situation, which might lead to a fight. He believes that teachers come second best as they can lose their jobs while the learner goes back to school after a short suspension.
“The first point when there is severe provocation is to isolate and scale down the aggression. In other words, you de-escalate the problem. If you do not de-escalate the problem, the only other direction is to escalate it. By that I mean, you take the child out and talk to them outside of the environment where everybody is involved and you remain in control by making the rest of the class remain seated. You have to be very careful, there is no teacher that can lay a hand on a child,” Manuel said.
He added that nothing can justify a teacher physically fighting with a learner and suggested that young teachers need assistance with classroom management skills. He says the department, teachers and parents should work together in instilling discipline in the school.
“The parents, who will stand with their child, will complain about the very same school and teacher tomorrow for not having discipline. The school has had disciplinary issues and they have to start getting the school back to the point where there is discipline,” Manuel added.
A teacher, who preferred to stay anonymous, says teaching and discipline has changed drastically for young teachers and that as a young teacher, she has been involved in a number of disciplinary matters that do not get resolved. She added that when the issue is considered as minor by the school, it is automatically overlooked.
“These learners do not even respect the principal and that makes it difficult for him to assist us in disciplining them. Their parents do not come to school when we request them to, resulting in learners getting away with a lot of bad things that they do. It is very wrong to hit a learner and the department should come up with a disciplinary process for schools to deal with these issues before they get out of hand,” she said.
The Gauteng Department of Education is currently investigating the Glenvista High School incident.