NATU calls on Education Department to ramp up security in schools

The National Teachers Union (NATU) has called on the Education Department to scale-up security at schools amid growing incidents of attacks on teachers.

The Union says teachers are not safe inside school premises as they are continuously attacked by learners and criminals who make their way into school grounds. NATU made this call during its elective conference in Durban this past week

Last week, a principal was shot and killed at a school in Pietermaritzburg while in a separate incident a learner allegedly set a teacher’s car on fire.

Presenting the NATU CENTRAL EXECUTIVE BOARD (2022 – 2025). pic.twitter.com/wqbkeUtiTV

— NATIONAL TEACHERS’ UNION (@NATIONALTEACHE2) September 10, 2022

Newly elected NATU president Sibusiso Malinga says teachers’ lives are often in danger at schools.

“We are calling on the Department of Education to make sure that each and every school has security. I don’t refer to a gate opener and gate closer. If you go to Home Affairs, you will see that there are well trained security guards, even at police stations they are guarded. How can a teacher teach effectively when his or her life is not safe at school,” says Malinga.

Video: Interventions to deal with school violence