Durban - Schools are supposed to be safe spaces where young minds are shaped to lead society in the future.
However, children may be vulnerable and unsafe in the hands of educators whose violent criminal pasts have not been disclosed.
Teaching is a career that requires honesty and trustworthiness from employees who act as counsellors to learners, but this might be a stretch for some in the profession.
According to TPN Credit Bureau data, 3.6% of teachers have a criminal record and more than two-thirds don’t declare that they have a previous conviction.
This means that of the reportedly 447 123 teachers in the country as at 2021, 16 000 of them have been arrested and charged with a crime.
Of the teachers who have criminal records, 26% have more than one conviction. More than 40% of those who were found guilty were between the ages of 18 and 25, while 38% were between the ages of 26 and 40.
Theft (26.3%), traffic offences (20.29%), assault (15.13%), fraud (4.61%), and drug trafficking (3.95%) were found to be the top five criminal conviction types.
Convictions related to abuse and crimes of a sexual nature make up 2.63% of total convictions among teachers.
A policy that was introduced in 2019 mandates that new teachers registering with the South African Council of Educators (SACE) must obtain and submit police clearance certificates.
Schools are also legally required to do background checks on prospective educators. However, some slip through the system.
“Educators with criminal records are slipping through the cracks because they were employed prior to the new policy being introduced and were not required to submit police clearance certificates.
“This means that schools, crèches, after-care facilities and institutions caring for mentally vulnerable individuals need to conduct regular criminal checks, even on long-standing employees,” said the TPN Credit Bureau.
They also needed to ensure that none of their staff had a criminal record, or were on the National Register of Sexual Offenders (NRSO) and the National Child Protection Register.
School principals who did not conduct such checks and employ staff with a criminal record could be held criminally and civilly liable for failing in their duty of care to children or vulnerable people, said TPN.
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