Alex Matlala

Alex Matlala

The high rate of crime in Limpopo schools has prompted the provincial department of education to establish an industrial school that will cater for children who are in conflict with the law.

MEC Aaron Motsoaledi said this during a seminar on schools and reform in the province held at the Bolivia Lodge near Polokwane on Monday.

Motsoaledi said about 60percent of pupils in conflict with the law in Limpopo were enrolled at a school in Mpumalanga.

Motsoaledi said the percentage of children involved in criminal activities was cause for concern. He said that an industrial school was needed to stop this situation from escalating.

Meanwhile, research conducted in Cuba shows that parents of pupils who are at the wrong end of the law were equally involved in the crimes committed by their children.

The research further showed that most parents from poor family backgrounds influenced their children to commit crime in order to survive.

A report by the department of correctional services showed that of the 1277 offenders apprehended last year in Thohoyandou, 1263 had been sentenced.

The report further showed that a total of 947 offenders were apprehend in Polokwane last year.

Motsoaledi said that children from child-headed households constituted the highest percentage of those who were found to be in conflict with the law.