GEORGE NEWS - If concerns aren't addressed, silence is interpreted as agreement, said Yashiera Adonis, Western Cape provincial chairperson of the National Professional Teacher's Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) to delegates at the second School and Safety Symposium on Saturday 3 March.
More than 150 teachers and headmasters from primary and high schools in the Eden district, as well as support role players in education, attended the symposium at PW Botha College.
Adonis told the George Herald that the aim of the symposium is to highlight the challenges facing education and the steps taken by the authorities to ensure that learning takes place in a safe environment.
It also aims to inform the public of the latest measures taken to tackle the scourge of gang violence that is plaguing especially the high schools in the province.
Adonis said that safety in schools is not only the concern of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).
"School safety is everyone's problem. Parents, educators, school governing bodies, the police, community police forums and civil society will have to work closer together and collectively take a stand about safety."
Nazeem Sheik-Ismail of the Western Cape Safe Schools programme spoke about the safety challenges and how constructive methods can be implemented to improve the safety of teachers and learners.
The services provided by Safe Schools to establish cohesion include substance abuse training, conflict management, youth development and Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) training.
The WCED and the unions know where the shortcomings are in the system - the challenge is how to address them, said Adonis.
The role players are from left, Gerhard van Niekerk (attorney), Lizie van der Merwe, Anneke Oosthysen (Naptosa), Yasierah Adonis (Naptosa), Chris Hart (Naptosa), Nazeem Sheik-Ismail (Western Cape Safe Schools), Bernadine Probart (Naptosa Southern Cape branch manager) and Jack Magdkwe (risk management).
The WCED assesses the situation at each school in the third quarter of the year, based on the number of learners who are registered at the school for the following year.
"Based on these statistics, the WCED allocates the number of teachers required as well as the number of mobile classes needed to service the learners adequately," explained Adonis.
"Come January, a place like George has an influx of 600 learners from other provinces who have not been registered on the system.
Where does the department get the educators and classrooms to accommodate the extra learners?
The Western Cape has an influx of between 18 000 and 25 000 learners every year.
The concern is there and it has been tabled for a while - it is always an agenda point when Naptosa meets with the WCED."
Naptosa, the second largest union in the education sector, was registered by the Registrar of Labour Relations as a Trade Union in November 2006.
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