ENOCK SHISHENGE | School violence reflects calibre of education officials

“In regions where the seasons go from one temperature extreme to the other, people alter their behaviour to fit the changing weather conditions.”

This statement has the power to  assist in solving some of the problems we face in our society, such as violence at SA schools.

Schools have become dangerous places not only for the pupils but for teachers as well, given the fact that disputing pupils use a variety of weapons against one another.

What will it take to root out pupil violence at schools?

Our education system is characterised by crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, lack of furniture and other resources, corrupt school governing bodies, incompetent principals and complete lack of parental support in most of these schools. All these factors create grounds for violence to exist in schools.

It becomes difficult to discipline pupils when they don’t have chairs. When you tell them to sit down they respond by saying "there is no chair to sit on".

We are faced with difficult conditions that are not of our making as educators. The system lacks proper leadership at crucial levels – from department officials to  principals and school governing bodies – creating the  dysfunction that has permanently set in at some schools.

Township schools no longer participate in sports. And instead of tackling this problem, the education department and its district units are more concerned about respectable matric results than the general welfare of schools.

Even worse, the officials entrusted with such responsibility are incompetent and do not inspire the schools to partake in extra-curricular activities. All the district officials are deployed to monitor exams. The influx of pupils from other provinces and neighbouring countries in Gauteng add to the strain our schools experience.

The government must intervene and build new schools to ease the heavy burden our schools and teachers face, mostly in Gauteng townships. A radical move is needed to bring about radical change from the existing conditions. We have more challenges than solutions as a result of the underperformance of our government. We need to change the approach and alter the way we do things.

The realities on the ground keep worsening by the day and continue to dehumanise us as people. Poverty, unemployment and inequality still pose a very serious challenge to our democracy and continue to destroy our communities. The troubles at our schools reflect this reality as schools are a microcosm of the wider society and its ailments of unemployment, violence and dirty surroundings.

• Shishenge is a language activist at Wena Language and Research Institute