In an effort to tackle bullying and drugs in schools, the North West Department of Education has conducted intensive training to equip senior school management across the province to deal with the pervasive problem.
On Monday the department held training with principals, deputy principals, heads of departments and school safety officers in order to reduce bullying and drugs in schools.
The training covered the drug situation in North West schools, definition of drugs, signs and symptoms of drug usage, effects of drugs in the school environment, legal aspect of drugs testing and training, drug testing practicals and stakeholder analysis.
The National School Safety Framework training was added since it is the umbrella under which all school safety programmes fall.
This toolkit covers school safety in a holistic manner and is approved by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) as a guide for school safety in all South African schools.
North West MEC for Education Mmaphefo Matsemela emphasised that the school management team should be equipped to detect bullying and drugs usage in schools.
“Since bullying is a major issue in our schools, there is a need to equip schools on how to deal with the scourge. Participants were equipped on the definition of bullying, different types of bullying, how to deal with bullying, possible anti-bullying activities, bullying action plan and possible stakeholders.
“One method of curbing violence in the schools is to deal with corporal punishment in the schools. Positive discipline and classroom management is also offered in this training as a means of replacing corporal punishment and encourages schools to take back the authority in the classroom in order to make the school a place of safety, teaching, and learning,” said Matsemela.
According to the North West department there is a monitoring programme that will be adhered to by schools for implementation.
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