Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane to Deploy Armed Security at High-Risk Schools

• Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane detailed his plans to fight violence in high-risk Schools in the province
• Chiloane committed made the commitment while addressing teachers, SGB members and stakeholders at Sihle High School
• Seventy-five of the most notorious schools will get first preference during Operation Kgutla Molao, recently launched by the department to end violence

JOHANNESBURG – Gauteng Department of Education MEC Matome Chiloane has taken the much-hoped for step of deploying armed security guards to 75 schools in Gauteng where criminality and drugs are prevalent.

Addressing principals and school governing body (SGB) members of the said schools on Tuesday at Sizwe High School in Elandsfontein, Chiloane said Operation Kgutla Molao is a safety measure recently launched by the department to address the issue of criminality in Gauteng schools.

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“The strategy is one of the comprehensive interventions outlined within the Gauteng School Safety Action Plan, aimed at reducing incidents of violence, bullying, suicide, substance abuse and sexual harassment at schools,” said the statement.

Sizwe High School is one of the 75 most notorious schools to be prioritised from the list of 245 identified by the department.

Among factors used to distinguish the schools are criminal acts against learners, educators, drug and substance abuse both inside and outside school premises, bullying, racism, sexual harassment and more.

To aid the situation, Chiloane proposed the deployment of four armed security guards at each school, training of Schools Safety Committees, deployment of hand-held metal detectors, installation of CCTV cameras, panic buttons and first aid training.

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Watch: GDE spokesperson Steve Mabona details plan

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the social development department has agreed to work with them in helping shape learners who have been identified as troubled.

Briefly News previously reported that a Gauteng schoolboy was injured when a school in Lenasia became the scene of a gang-related fight, leading to the boy being stabbed in the head with a broken bottle.

The incident shone a light on the increase of gang violence in numerous schools across the province.

As reported by EWN, the Gauteng Department of Education came clean about losing its battle with eradicating gangsterism in schools

Source: Briefly News