Department of Education admits to gaps in tracking teachers guilty of sexual misconduct
A parliamentary reply has revealed that the national education department does not keep centralised records of teachers found guilty of sexual offences.
An image of an empty classroom. Picture: Teka77/123rf.com
CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit is joined by spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education Elijah Mhlanga.
Listen below:
How would you know if a teacher at your child's school had been convicted of a sexual offence?
A recent parliamentary question has revealed a troubling gap in the Department of Basic Education’s records.
It's emerged the DBE doesn't keep accurate, up-to-date data on teachers found guilty of sexual misconduct.
The response to IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe’s inquiry shows the responsibility is left to provincial departments and school governing bodies.
That means the national department has no clear picture of how many offenders remain in the system, or whether they’ve faced consequences.
RELATED: 39 teachers fired for sexual misconduct: 'They must be on the sex offender list!'
"On an ordinary day, that information is indeed with the school, the school governing body, as well as the province... we don't ask them until there is a question that requires we obtain that information."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
Mhlanga says recent changes to legislation place an obligation on employers to vet potential employees against the National Register of Sex Offenders.
"That mandate is there, every teacher that is coming into the system needs to be vetted."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
"It's a responsibility that all of us are working on because we are seeing an increasing need to protect the children."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
The challenge, says Mhlanga, lies with teachers already in the system.
And what about cases where a teacher is accused of misconduct, but no legal or disciplinary action is taken?
If that teacher leaves one educational institution, does the allegation follow them and is there a duty on a schools to inform one another of allegations, even where there has been no conviction?
"There's a gap in reporting, some people don't disclose that there was an allegation against them."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
"You have a challenge where the form [the teacher] fills in or process they go through may not require them to disclose voluntarily what may have been the reason for their departure from their previous employment."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
Worryingly, Mhlanga says schools are often so desperate to fill teaching posts that proper vetting is overlooked, allowing some teachers to enter classrooms before background checks are completed.
"And while that process is still in place, that person maybe commits another offence and then the scandal breaks that this person committed a similar offence [before]."
- Elijah Mhlanga, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson
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