EAST LONDON – The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga led the launch of the National Inclusive Safer Schools Programme (NISSP) on Wednesday, 16
August 2023 at Pefferville Primary School in East London. This initiative is a partnership between the Department of Basic Education, the Presidency, and other government departments in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
During the launch The Minister of basic education Motshekga said,” Bullying is a very hard issue in a sense that it’s in the children’s hearts and minds and therefore you need a softer programme like the programme that we have with our partners where we educate and school them around anti bullyism and what schools must do. We have a manual where we train teachers in how to identify bullies, how to help bullies but also help with sister departments and with NGOs. It’s a different process to work with bullying but we have to identify the bullies and half the time have to identify what is the source of the anti social behavior but also identify victims who are most of the time silent and suffer in silence and also find ways of helping them,” Motshekga.
The National Inclusive Safer Schools Programme aims to address various community and school-level challenges, bullying (including cyberbullying), corporal punishment, gender-based violence (GBV), learner pregnancy, drugs and substance abuse in schools, as well as mental health. It is an interdepartmental campaign that seeks to raise awareness and implement measures to ensure safer school environments.
GIZ, through its Inclusive Violence and Crime Prevention Programme (VCP), is providing support to the Department of Basic Education in implementing the National Inclusive Safer Schools programme .
Additionally, the Executive Mayor of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, CIlr Princess Faku who spoke about the level of crime at schools in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and how it being handled, “We are working together with the South African Police Service and we have involved communities last month we launched the Buffalo City police forums where we have different stakeholders that are forming part of it. It is a struggle but we believe that it’s only us as the government that can fight the battle it needs all of us especially communities and NGOs who can work with us however, we believe with all the measures that we have put it in place we will succeed,” Faku said.
It is commendable to see the government taking proactive steps to address the safety and well-being of learners in schools, the partnership with GIZ and other government departments demonstrates a collective effort to create inclusive and secure learning environments.
This initiative is crucial in promoting a positive school culture and ensuring the holistic development of learners.
