Sex pest vetting for schools agreed

Education departments have agreed to pay the cost of vetting teachers against the national register for sex offenders (NRSO) after teachers objected to paying the fees themselves.

Four unions that are part of the Combined Teacher Unions (CTU) wrote to basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli in December to say there was no agreement between themselves and the department that teachers should pay for their own vetting.

There are more than 447,000 teachers at almost 25,000 public schools. The cost of fingerprint reports, which have to be requested from the police, is about R75 per teacher.

Initially, provincial education departments issued circulars informing schools that teachers had to pay for the fingerprint reports. 

The Western Cape provincial education department was alone among provinces contacted by the Sunday Times to say it was willing to foot the bill for its schools.

The Gauteng education department issued a circular in July last year instructing teachers and curriculum facilitators to undergo vetting but withdrew the order two months later without explanation.

In its initial circular, the Gauteng department said it had received a directive from the department of basic education and the department of justice & correctional services that provincial education departments had to comply with legislation requiring anyone listed in the NRSO to disclose this when they submit applications to work with vulnerable groups.

The NRSO, implemented in June 2009, lists people found guilty of sexual offences against children, mentally disabled people and other vulnerable people. An amendment to the legislation in 2021 extended the period for which a sex offender’s particulars must remain on the register from 10 to 20 years.

The register gives employers in the public and private sectors, such as schools, crèches and hospitals, the right to check that a person being hired is fit to work with children or mentally disabled people.

National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa executive director Basil Manuel said his union supported the vetting of teachers but objected to them having to pay for it.

“We don’t want to hide teachers who have serious criminal convictions such as for sex offences and we want to see that our profession is as clean as it can possibly be,” he said. “If employers want to implement something involving existing employees, they have to bear the cost of whatever they are trying to implement.”

Manuel said Mweli told him on Friday afternoon that the employers would pay.

“I believe that pressure from the unions could have possibly had a role to play in the departments' agreeing to foot the bill.”

Nomusa Cembi, spokesperson for the South African Democratic Teachers Union, said they accepted vetting because “it would go a long way towards ensuring that schools are safe places for learners and teachers”. However, they wanted the employer to pay for it.

“We are also concerned about the time it will take for the results to come back because the turnaround time for SACE [South African Council for Educators] police clearance takes ages.”

The onus lies with the employer to ensure that the system is rid of unwanted elements who are hell-bent on molesting our children 

—  Ben Machipi, general secretary of the Professional Educators’ Union

Ben Machipi, general secretary of the Professional Educators’ Union, said his union told the department it opposed teachers having to pay to be vetted.

“The onus lies with the employer to ensure that the system is rid of unwanted elements who are hell-bent on molesting our children.”

Shaheda Omar, director of the Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children, said education departments should absorb the cost “because it’s actually cheaper for them to do that than put children at risk”.

“I am disappointed and surprised that Gauteng has withdrawn the circular, knowing very well that we see so many educators guilty of sexual offences against children. It’s a gross oversight to not enforce this directive.”

Tarryn Cooper-Bell of the Equal Education Law Centre said: “The obligation on this department to protect children within schools still exists and it is therefore encouraged to ensure that adequate and appropriate vetting of education staff happens as a matter of urgency.”

“Comprehensive vetting should have been undertaken by all provincial education departments, governing bodies and independent schools when appointing any staff since the establishment of the NRSO and child protection register. It should not be a process they are only now suddenly trying to comply with,” she said.

Western Cape education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the province was extending its deadline for teachers to be vetted due to capacity problems at the police department.

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said they and the provincial education departments had agreed to pay for the vetting of teachers and other public employees in the sector.

The process will start with teachers and staff in special schools and hostels and then in primary and secondary schools.

“It cannot be done all at once since there is not sufficient capacity to do so given the number of employees in the education sector,” he said.