By A'eysha Kassiem
More than one in four schools in the Western Cape have been identified as high-risk, Education MEC Cameron Dugmore has told the provincial legislature in a debate on safety in schools.
Two-thirds of the incidents reported to the Western Cape Education Department's Safe Schools programme occurred at schools in the Cape Town metropole, Dugmore said in his opening remarks.
In 2003, the Safe Schools call centre recorded 1 561 incidents ranging from abuse, burglary, vandalism and other crimes to gang violence.
The Safe Schools hotline was gaining popularity. In 2004, the figure rose slightly to 1 958. Last year, 2 778 incidents were recorded.
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"In this year, up until March 31, we recorded 1 038 incidents," said Dugmore.
He cautioned, however, that the rise in such reports might mean only that the Safe Schools hotline was gaining popularity, not that there was a rise in the incidence of cases.
The Safe Schools programme had provided 100 schools with security infrastructure that included remote-controlled gates with CCTV cameras, intercom systems to direct evacuations and safety drills, and burglar bars.
Dugmore encouraged neighbourhood watches to use schools for their headquarters, saying this would ensure 24-hour security on the grounds.
'There is a reciprocal relationship between safe schools and safe communities' This had been done successfully at one school, he said.
"In addition to infrastructure, the Western Cape Education Department, in partnership with the Community Safety Department, identified 400 high-risk schools that needed additional human resources to control crime.
"Six Bambanani volunteers were deployed to 100 schools identified as extremely high-risk, at a cost of R6-million."
At least one of the volunteers was a parent at the school and a member of the school governing body.
"The killing of a learner is symptomatic of the malaise in the community that is affected by high rates of unemployment, high levels of violence and gangsterism, and the low morale of educators (because of) their stressful working conditions," Dugmore said.
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