Lesufi: Schools should not be prisons
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi doesn't believe the implementation of more stringent security measures will lead to an atmosphere conducive to teaching and learning.
Lesufi visited Three Rivers Secondary School in Sedibeng following an incident where a pupil threw an exercise book at a teacher.
A video of the incident has gone viral.
The MEC says many parents and teachers are advocating for security equipment such as CCTV cameras to be installed at schools, but the department does not have the funding to provide that kind of support.
"But I always argue, and I know I differ with many people, schools should be a place where children should feel free and should not be a military camp.
"These are children, they need to play, they need to enjoy schools and get all the support. Actually if there is a place where children need to be free of fear, of policemen and other things its schools."
Lesufi also had words of praise for the teacher.
"A very shy person, I must say my brief moment with her, I was touched. I felt like she is a person that is committed to the profession, committed to the education of our children."
The learner has since been suspended and the School Governing Body (SGB) has been instructed to investigate the circumstances leading up to the incident.