We'll jail booze kids

TEACHERS and parents, gatvol with bunking pupils, have welcomed calls for the arrest of pupils found loitering during school hours.

Mpumalanga is leading the way with safety and security MEC Vusi Shongwe on Friday ordering the police to arrest schoolchildren found roaming the streets in school uniform during school hours.

"We'll jail booze kids"

Pappa wag vir julle jonge dronkgatte!

"We will also arrest pupils found in taverns or shebeens during school hours," Shongwe said.

The latest tough stance highlights a hardening attitude towards rampant ill discipline among pupils as the new school year unfolds.

The call has received support from teachers and parents alike. They said it was long overdue.

Last week Limpopo health and social development MEC Miriam Segabutla complained that hair styles and make-up had negatively contributed to the dismal performance of female matriculants.

She felt the time children spent titivating could best be used to improve their performance.

Segabutla also warned that pupils who did not adhere to dress codes "will be dealt with".



She was addressing hundreds of pupils at Mopje Secondary School in Bolobedu South, which had the worst provincial matric pass rate.

A day later executive mayor for the Mopani district municipality Joshua Matlou told pupils that designer clothes and shoes were not permitted at school.

Pupils grumbled.

"He is jealous because during years of schooling he did not have the luxury to dress as he pleased," said one pupil.

In Soweto last week pupils photographed drinking alcohol in the street on their way to school have since been suspended.

Ronny Makalla of Lefiso Village in Mpumalanga, whose child is in Grade 10, praised the MEC.

"We as parents expect our children to be in class seven hours a day. If they do illegal things we will now be made aware of it.

"I was so shocked when I saw in the Sowetan last week pupils sipping cider on their way to school late. What we saw clearly is the tip of an iceberg and something needs to be done."

A teacher, Dintlhana Moagi of Malatse High School in Mpumalanga, said: "This call is long overdue and why limit it to Mpumalanga? It should apply to other provinces as well."

Boas Ramollo, a teacher at Dikgabo Combined School in Lefiso village, said: "This call by the MEC will surely enhance the culture of teaching and learning at our schools and help maintain discipline among our pupils."

Angel Ally, a teacher at Thembeka Secondary in KaNyamazane, said: "This will certainly help our children focus on their studies because they won't be hanging around in townships during school hours."

Ally said pupils arrived early, but most classes were half empty after break as pupils go to nearby taverns.

"We as teachers are then blamed when they fail at the end of year."

- Sowetan