Picture: (Police found dead)

BY KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

THE North West Education and Sport Development said the issue of school safety is a major concern at all levels of government. The Department of Education and Sport Development mobilized Department of Community Safety and Transport Management as well as South African Police Services to collectively declare to respond proactively and intervene when adverse situations of crime are present in schools.

This declaration was made at Vaal Reefs Technical High School recently when all three provincial departments agreed on linking of all public schools to local police stations, allocating a police officer per individual school (Adopt-a-Cop) and establishment of functional school safety committees in all the schools.

Addressing the issue of protocol, all structures agreed to work together and mobilize communities to fight crime and violence in schools.

North West Education spokesperson, Elias Malindi said the notion was also supported by local municipality (Matlosana municipality), School Governing Body (SGB), National Interfaith Council of Southern Africa (NICSA) and House of Traditional leaders in which they shared school safety non-negotiables comprising of availability of school safety policy, learner’s code of conduct, emergency plans supervision schedule of learners and implementation of school based anti crime and violence programmes.

Pudimoe cluster police spokesperson, Sergeant Tebogo Thebe said, the adopt a cop initiative helps a lot as each cop is appointed to head each school. “If there is anything that need police intervention, the school will call the cop they working closely with. But if the matter needs thorough investigations, then the law will take its cause. Adopt a cop initiative also works with local organisations in alerting the pupils about the drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, crime and other issues that affect them daily,” Thebe said.

National Interfaith Council of Southern Africa (NICSA) co-ordinator in the province, David Olefile Morwaagae said: “Adopt-a-cop initiative is part of quality learning and teaching campaign structure (QLTC), and bears fruitful results. It is now easy for pupils to communicate with various structures if there is any concern they need to attend to. We also capacitated the use of social workers to help all pupils who need attention as some of the pupils are from child-headed families,” Morwaagae said.

-TDN

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