Chiloane tells pupils ‘schools are safe’ after principle shooting
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane has told pupils at Primrose Primary School in Germiston they have no reason to fear going to school.
Last week, a 13-year-old pupil shot the principal after he instructed pupils to gather in the foyer to take out their workbooks to study.
Chiloane visited the school on Monday morning.
“What happened on Friday, it doesn’t happen in schools, it’s not normal,” Chiloane told the pupils.
“Schools are safe. That child did something that shocked all of us. What is going to happen is unfortunate because once you do something like this, even your future gets compromised.
“We do not know what is going to happen to the child, but he is arrested, and there is a jail for children, and it’s not nice. We didn’t want to lose (the pupil), but he did something that no child has ever done at our school, where a child shoots a principal or teacher.
“You must respect your teachers, principals, and you must listen to the because your teachers are your parents in school. If you respect your mother and father at home, you must respect your teachers at school.
“Educators are not law enforcers, they are not trained for physical altercation. They are trained to teach. That’s why it is important to us to invest in the safety of the school entirely. The situation has brought us into a situation where we need to review as to what kind of training we should give to our educators, how to prepare them not physical training but the additional skills to handle situations, maybe negotiation skills if needs be”.
Chiloane said the pupil was on a WhatsApp group with other pupils where the shooting of the principal was discussed.
“For those learners who are part of it, we are looking into it in terms of charging them and punishment we’ll look at it to inform our action.”
The 51-year-old principal is recovering in hospital, while the pupil is set to appear in the Germiston Magistrate’s' Court soon.
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