+ GMT Select Your Local Time London GMT Johannesburg Lagos Cairo Accra Mogadishu Abuja Cape Town Free Town Addis Ababa Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Australia Sydney Austria Bahrain Bangladesh Belgium Brazil East Brazil West Canada Toronto Canada Pacific China Beijing Cuba Cyprus Denmark Egypt Ethiopia Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hon Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kenya Korea (Rep. of) Kuwait Lebanon Liberia Libya Luxemburg Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Mexico City Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Moscow Russia Vladivostok Saudi Arabia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Trinidad And Tobago Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom USA Washington USA San Francisco USA New York USA Hawaii Venezuela Yemen Zaire Kinshasa Zaire Katanga Zambia Zimbabwe STO
[Pacific Sighting] See Makkah Clock
Searching EsinIslam بحث موقع
Home | Explore | Broadcasters | Media | Donations | About Us | Contact | Fatwa | Our Sheikh
Save
South Africa Sex Pest Teachers Named And Shamed: Pupils In Sex Give In To Threats
12 August 2009
The Western Cape has the highest reported number of teachers struck off the teachers' roll for sexual offences out of a total of 75 cases reported nationally since 2000. But this is partly because the Western Cape Education Department is better at reporting teachers guilty of sexual offences to the SA Council for Educators (Sace) than most of its counterparts in other provinces. Sace chief executive Rej Brijraj said yesterday that the local Education Department was commendably transparent and efficient in reporting cases. Brijraj did not have exact figures and cautioned against playing a numbers game. Brijraj, however, said cases were fairly evenly spread across all provinces, but the Western Cape was "more vigilant" in reporting cases to Sace. The Western Cape had a "heightened sense of promoting a culture of learning" and better communication or reporting networks than most other provinces. The Western Cape had the benefit of being fairly urbanised, with good infrastructure and support mechanisms, Brijraj said. "The Western Cape Education Department needs to be complimented for being very effective in bringing to the council's attention breaching of the teachers' code of conduct, while the council is still working on establishing an improved response regime in the other provinces." Background Three whistle-blowers from the Umlazi high school where five teachers are facing charges of misconduct have buckled under pressure of being "intimidated" and have backed away from testifying against the accused. This was revealed by a source close to the case. The hearing began during the school holidays. The five teachers were charged with misconduct after about 15 girls from the school, ranging in age from 15 to 19, reported them to the Education Department's Umlazi District. It was alleged that the teachers engaged in sexual intercourse and consumed alcohol with girl pupils in the school's science laboratory. One teacher was charged with rape by one of the girls. The rape apparently took place in August last year. The KwaZulu-Natal Education Department had intended to finalise its hearing before the end of the holidays, but was hindered when the key witnesses were intimidated and offered bribes in exchange for their silence. "Six of the affected pupils have been placed at other schools in the interests of their safety," the source said. "The hearing hasn't been concluded because of the disruptions caused by the intimidation of witnesses. They are being abused." Two pupils who were complainants in the case confirmed this, saying that other teachers at the school blamed them for getting their suspended colleagues into trouble. The five teachers have also been charged by the South African Council of Educators (Sace) with misconduct under the Sace code of professional ethics. Sace has also conducted its own investigation, and its hearing starts at the beginning of next month. Sace's CEO, Rej Brijraj, said information was being gathered and said the council foresaw no problems that would hinder its hearing. KZN Education Department spokesman Mbali Thusi said: "This is a very sensitive case and should be treated as such. Once the prosecution team has concluded its work, the findings will be communicated accordingly." As from yesterday schools and governing bodies could run ID number checks on Sace's website to find out if prospective teachers had been convicted of sexual offences or fired for misconduct. Brijraj said this information had been available before, at Sace's offices, but was now also more conveniently available on their website. Education Department director of communications Paddy Attwell said it was impossible to accurately compare the Western Cape to other provinces regarding teacher misconduct, but the department had a good reporting track record, as it viewed such cases "in a very serious light".
EsinIslam.Com
Sign In Password