This is according to education activist in the Free State, Hendrick Makaneta, who released a statement yesterday on how the government should come up with solutions to help relieve high levels of stress teachers face daily due to ill-disciplined learners, especially in public schools. Makaneta states that even though the government has done a splendid job at teaching learners and South Africans in general about their rights, very little has been done in order to make them aware of their responsibilities.

He suggests that social workers be deployed at schools all over the country, particularly at rural schools, because according to him, that is where the department is experiencing a lot of frustration from teachers. Another suggestion he raised was that the government should host a learner discipline indaba in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders within the terrain of education, in order to make sure that these issues are addressed.

He described that the age of learners is another contributor to behavioural problems in schools. He explained: “You’ll find that in schools you have a 20-year-old learner, which is a cause of concern because once a learner is that age, they should be in university. We do not expect to see 20-year-old learners in schools but it is happening because of the different challenges they face at home. Some of them come from communities who consist of gangs which often makes it very difficult for the learners to progress. That is why the minister has introduced the policy of progression to make sure learners are progressed to the next grade, even though they have not passed. We believe that it is quite a wide-ranging problem that government should find a way to resolve.”

Makaneta also expressed that it is the responsibility of parents to make sure that they raise responsible children and citizens, as teachers on their own cannot resolve the problem that defeated the parents already.

“I think we should go back to the drawing board where children will be able to respect their elders, not only in schools but in society as well,” he concluded.

OFM News/Elsabé Richard