Teachers preying on pupils for sex

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Published Nov 20, 2017

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Cape Town - Incidents of teachers as sexual predators in the classroom have unions and politicians in the province worried.

After the outcry in Gauteng, where teachers and support staff were exposed for sexual misconduct against learners, the attention has turned to what is happening in other provinces.

In the last three years, 77 Western Cape teachers were involved in cases of sexual misconduct against pupils. Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said that in the 2016/17 financial year there were 21 cases reported to the department.

In the two previous years there were 28 cases reported in each year. Of all

the cases reported, nine were incidents where a teacher had sexual relations with a learner. In one case, a female teacher reportedly had sexual encounters with a male pupil.

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Schäfer said these cases were receiving attention.

“Where evidence was found, the teachers were disciplined and the correct steps were taken. In the 2016/17 year, 12 of the 21 cases resulted in a conviction,” Schäfer said in reply to a question in the Western Cape Legislature.

Chris Hart, Western Cape chief executive of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said the abuse of learners was totally unacceptable.

“We are completely against the abuse of learners, and where our members are involved, the necessary steps are taken. We have conducted advocacy workshops to train teachers about these issues.”

Further workshops were planned in the new year, he said.

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“We have seen those figures of the department. What we also need to note is that sometimes teachers don’t know where to draw the line. Maybe an educator might just bump into a learner, and that can be seen as something wrong. So we really need to give our educators the training they need,” Hart said.

Asked if there was a specific area where sexual abuse of learners was prevalent, he said: “It is difficult to gauge that. There are times when one teacher is responsible for multiple incidents. And those teachers can move between different regions.”

Jonovan Rustin, SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial chairperson, said they were aware of the “ever increasing” problem of sexual misconduct at schools.

“We have had a number of these incidents, and it is really criminal, to say the least. We have dealt with our members, and the department has also dealt with those that have been found guilty of this conduct. If they are found guilty they should not be in this profession; we can’t allow our children to be sexually harassed and abused,” he said.

Rustin said they also provided training to their members to ensure they knew the rules. “These cases are spread all over the province. We can’t say it is just in the rural or urban areas; we are seeing it all over.

It is mostly a major problem in high schools.

“Teachers should know that they should not engage with learners; they should know where to draw the line,” he said.

Cape Argus

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