JOHANNESBURG: South African schools were the most dangerous in the world with only 23% of pupils saying they felt safe, the SA Institute of Race Relations said yesterday.
An institute spokesman, Thomas Blaser, said a Progress in International Reading Literacy study had ranked South Africa last in terms of school safety.
“In that study South African school pupils were asked whether they felt safe when they were at school and if they had experienced incidents of stealing, bullying, and injury to themselves or to others in their class within the last four weeks,” Blaser said.
“Only 23% of South African pupils said they felt safe at school.
“On average South Africa’s schools ranked more than 20% points below the world-wide average of 47% of pupils saying that they felt a high degree of safety in the classroom,” Blaser said.
Schools in Norway, Denmark and Sweden were ranked the safest in the world, with about 70% of pupils saying they felt safe at school.
“The findings of the study suggested that media reports of school violence were not merely isolated incidents but part of a growing pattern of violence and disorder,” he said.
According to the Department of Education’s own data, published in the institute’s report, 24% of schools had no burglar bars, 35% had no security gates, and 80% had no alarm systems.
“Conditions in many schools are not only far from ideal, but in many cases downright dangerous. The problem deserves urgent attention in parliament and needs a national safety plan.”
Loading ...
