I found out that, despite the fact that “beating” learners in SA is a crime, that it is happening often around my village. General policy throughout SA is that if a learner is late to school, they are locked out and are forced to go home and cannot attend classes that day. I think this is a ridiculous policy. With so many orphans/ child headed families/ hungry kids/ kids with problems at home/ etc (the list could go on for days), expecting children to make it to school by 7:30 AM on a daily basis is ridiculous. Often times the children having the hardest time at home probably don’t make it to school on time. They are consistently locked out of classes and fall farther and farther behind, forcing dropouts.I believe in taking education seriously. wouldnt making kids clean chalkboards after school or some other beautification of the school be better? Make them grow things in a garden where the produce can be used for the mandatory school provided lunches?
To make matters worse, a secondary school in my village has told the police that if they find learners who are late they must beat them. So there are police riding around town in bakkies (trucks) and cars chasing down children and beating them. Someone mentioned if a child falls down they swarm them. EXCUSE ME?!? If I EVER see a police officer beating a learner, there will be a blood bath. And I am not an imposing person, but rage combined with adrenaline has done funny things to people. Today I was a the aforementioned school and was siting in the office of a life skills teacher. Three girls came in and held out their hands, and the teacher smacked each of them across the palm with a stick (for “being lazy to do their work”). The girls each flinched and one moved her hand out of the way then had to put it back out. When the girls had gone and I had told him how he would be in jail if this was America, he told me that he couldn’t understand why, but the learners at the school were demotivated.
Oh my…I dont know whether to cry or punch my concrete wall. Or call the education department and file a report. Does SA even DO that? Time for an investigation.
