A school teacher with a criminal record for murder is among those whose applications for a police clearance certificate have been turned down.

This emerged after 2,983 teachers had applied for or updated their registration statuses with the SA Council of Educators (Sace).

Sace announced that teachers registering with it will have to produce a police clearance certificate as a way for the organisation to keep sex pests out of the classrooms.

Sace reported that between April 2016 and March 2017 there were 99 incidents of sexual misconduct involving teachers, including rape.

Themba Ndhlovu of Sace said three teachers out of the 2,983 were turned down.

"There were three educators who were found to have been charged with murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and assault cases. They will be called into a committee where they will be subjected to a hearing," Ndhlovu said.

He said the committee would establish their rehabilitation status and their fitness to take up the teaching positions.

"The committee will establish whether they have served their sentences, look into their victims and establish whether there is a possibility of a recurrence."

Ndhlovu could not rule out the possibilities of the teachers being allowed to teach again, saying some offenders are sent out to be reintegrated with the community.

"At Sace we don't have dustbins for human beings, that is why we are giving them a second chance."

The police clearance certificate is issued purely on the basis of one's criminal record from the SAPS's criminal records.

In the past, teachers registering with Sace only had to indicate if they had a criminal record or not but there was no proof required.