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Cameras must be installed in classrooms, says civil society group

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Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga. (GCIS)
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga. (GCIS)

A civil society group is set to ask Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to install cameras in schools across the country to curb misconduct and improve education outcomes.

Education for Social Justice Foundation, an interest group working closely with the basic education department, hopes that Motshekga will welcome its proposal as a way to alleviate challenges facing education.

The foundation’s deputy chairperson, Hendrick Makaneta, said the organisation would send a written proposal to Motshekga on Tuesday.

Makaneta, who also claimed to be a deployee of the organisation to the ANC sub-committee on education and health, said it was high time that government took drastic measures to monitor the behaviour of teachers and pupils.

He said this could minimise sexual misconduct by teachers, and improve the general behaviour of pupils and teachers.

“We call on government to bring teaching and learning under control by installing cameras in every classroom across all schools in the country.

"This move will assist both pupil and teacher to fully appreciate and respect the importance of a school as an institution of learning,” Makaneta said.

He said many schools were dysfunctional and the installation of cameras would also improve relations among pupils and teachers as everyone would always know that they were being watched.

“This will further expose lazy teachers and lazy pupils. South Africa remains at the bottom of the list of countries in the world when it comes to the performance in maths and science.

"Singapore is one of the leading countries in maths and science. South Africa should learn from Singapore and other countries, and apply their methods.”

He said government had to tighten its grip on both teacher and pupil discipline for the sake of the education of millions of pupils.

“We know that lazy pupils and lazy teachers will oppose this proposal.

"If government is serious about radical socioeconomic change, it must seriously regulate and monitor progress in the way pupils are being taught and assessed, ” Makaneta added.

He said it had been proved that schools that have cameras in their classes showed high levels of improvement.

Most of South Africa’s private schools have cameras in their classrooms and their pupils achieve good results, Makaneta said, adding that classrooms were not hiding places for lazy teachers.

Neither were they playgrounds for lazy pupils, he said.

“We must take education seriously and ensure that we restore confidence among all those parents who took their children to private schools. There is no reason cameras should not be installed in classrooms.

"If parliamentary proceedings can be televised, why should teaching not be monitored? Parents must be able to walk into schools and request footage of lessons conducted at any time so they can check that their children are being taught.

Schools are public institutions, so the public has a right to know what is taking place inside those classrooms,” he said.

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