MEC calls for review of W Cape schools’ codes of conduct

Protests erupted at Sans Souci Girls' High School last week after pupils spoke out about institutionalised racism perpetuated through the school's code of conduct. File picture: Jason Boud

Protests erupted at Sans Souci Girls' High School last week after pupils spoke out about institutionalised racism perpetuated through the school's code of conduct. File picture: Jason Boud

Published Sep 8, 2016

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Cape Town - The Western Cape Education MEC has called on all schools in the province to review their codes of conduct to ensure they were in line with the country’s constitution and representative of the school community.

This, after discriminatory practices at schools around the country caused a public outcry, with black girl pupils saying they were singled out because of their hair, and other students claiming they were taken to task for speaking their home language on school premises.

Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said on Thursday that her department had issued a circular calling for the review of the code of conduct at all schools in the province.

“Last week, I called on all schools in the Western Cape to review their codes of conduct to ensure that they are in line with the values of the constitution and representative of the school community,” said Schäfer.

The Department of Education confirmed that the circular was issued on Thursday. Schäfer explained that the events which had taken place at schools in Gauteng and the Western Cape in recent weeks had highlighted the importance of school codes of conduct that reflected the values of the constitution.

“The circular serves to remind schools to review codes of conduct periodically to ensure that they achieve their purpose in line with the constitution, while taking into account ongoing discussions on what codes of conduct should require,” said Schäfer.

The circular intended to ensure that schools were aware of the following:

- When drafting a code of conduct, all stakeholders of the school, namely parents, teachers and learners (including the Representative Council of Learners) must be involved and that the process must be participatory, open and transparent.

- If there are disagreements or uncertainties regarding the content of the code of conduct, it is important that this be discussed and ironed out among stakeholders before the code is formally adopted.

Schäfer said the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) had also provided schools with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) booklet, which is aimed at assisting governing bodies in developing or reviewing the code of conduct of the school.

“We have asked schools to suggest amendments to the DBE’s guideline, as the WCED continues to improve its approach to drafting codes of conduct. I believe that this process can be conducted in a transparent and participatory way, without disruption to teaching, learning time, or violence,” said Schäfer.

“It is important that all schools ensure that their codes of conduct represent the inclusive society in which we live, however, it is important that there is a healthy balance between school discipline and behaviour and individual rights,” added Schäfer.

African News Agency

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