Cape Town - The Just Grace Community Development Programme in Langa has embarked on a “tardiness campaign” that will see pupils from four high schools and a primary school encouraged to be on time by giving them support and motivating them to take education seriously.
Nozibele Ndunge, a social worker at Just Grace, said: “Most pupils lack motivation and feel forced to go to school. We have noticed that they lack motivation, and we want to instil a positive attitude.
“We want our pupils to see that we are with them on the journey.”
Ndunge said arriving late had escalated in Langa and needed urgent attention from not only the teachers but also the community. She said traffic was one of the major reasons given by pupils for arriving late.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department was continuously engaging with schools with regards to arriving late.
“Arriving late affects not only the pupil who is late due to the loss of learning time, but can also be disruptive for other pupils in the class,” she said.
Hammond said schools were allowed to take various disciplinary approaches when dealing with latecomers like detention, compulsory after-school activities, or activities such as picking up litter.
“Measures to curb late coming vary from school to school. While some measures such as detention work at some schools, at others they do not.
“Therefore, schools need to determine what measures work best for themselves. While there are often very valid reasons for late coming in some schools, in other instances pupils are habitually late. Schools must deal with this on a case-by-case basis, and monitor each pupil’s attendance, as well as address habitual latecomers’ parents or guardians on this behaviour,” she said.
However, pupils could not be refused entry into a school for being late, Hammond said.
@Mtuzeli