Teachers in some of the Western Cape’s most troubled schools say they are being forced to choose between educating children and protecting their own lives, as violence, gangsterism and collapsing discipline continue to cripple learning in township classrooms.
“We stand in front of pupils who carry guns in their school bags, making it difficult for us to call them out when they are wrong,” said a high school teacher from Gugulethu.
The alarming accounts come as the Schools Evaluation Authority (SEA) this week presented its annual report to the Standing Committee on Education in the Western Cape for the first time. The report revealed that several schools in the province are rated at level one or two, meaning they are either inadequate or in urgent need of improvement.
While the Western Cape education department still positions itself as one of the country’s top-performing provinces, teachers told the Sunday Times the reality inside many schools is marked by fear, absenteeism, bullying and a complete breakdown in accountability.
These pupils come to school with dangerous objects, including guns. A learner looks you straight in the eye and asks: ‘What are you going to do if I don’t do this work?’ There is little you can do because you value your life more. You focus on the pupils who still want to learn.
— Teacher
“It’s impossible to achieve quality education in some township schools because we fear for our lives,” one teacher said.
“These pupils come to school with dangerous objects, including guns. A learner looks you straight in the eye and asks: ‘What are you going to do if I don’t do this work?’ There is little you can do because you value your life more. You focus on the pupils who still want to learn.”
Another educator said teachers have become emotionally exhausted and increasingly unsupported by parents and the education system.
“We are expected to produce good results under impossible conditions. Some learners have no respect for authority, and some parents defend their children even when they are clearly wrong,” the teacher said.
He described how pupils roam the streets in school uniform during school hours.
“You see the same pupils hanging around outside the school gates every day without shame. We no longer ask why homework isn’t done or why someone has been absent for a week because you either get no answer or a threatening stare in front of the class.”
One female teacher said she no longer takes lunch breaks because she spends her time on playground patrol.
“That’s where most of the bullying and violence happens. I only get to eat after 3pm once the pupils have gone home,” she said.
According to the SEA report, underachievement remains a major concern, with about five in every 10 primary and secondary schools across all eight education districts failing to meet acceptable standards.
The report found widespread problems in struggling schools, including poor teaching practices, weak classroom management, inadequate lesson preparation, poor marking and a lack of leadership oversight. In many cases, principals and school management teams were not monitoring the quality of teaching and learning.
Prof Nuraan Davids, chair of the department of education policy studies at Stellenbosch University, said the findings reflect decades of unresolved inequality.
“This has been the state of many South African schools for the past 25 to 30 years. The inequalities created by apartheid were never adequately addressed. We know the problems, overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure, violence and poverty, but there has never been enough political will or accountability to fix them,” she said.
Davids said schools, particularly in the Western Cape, are increasingly caught in the grip of gangsterism, vandalism and theft.
“Schools are carrying the burden of a broken society. The more violent communities become, the more learners are drawn into gangs and criminality, and teachers’ lives are genuinely at risk.”
She said education authorities alone could not solve the crisis.
“We need a coordinated response involving education, community safety and social development. These are not purely educational problems; they are linked to poverty, violence and social breakdown.”
Despite the grim findings, the SEA report also highlighted schools that continue to excel under difficult circumstances.
The Centre of Science and Technology in Khayelitsha was praised for outstanding learner achievement, while Spine Road High School in Mitchells Plain was recognised for strong leadership and consistent academic performance.
But for many teachers working in struggling schools, the crisis is deepening.
“We became teachers because we wanted to change lives,” said one educator. “But now many of us go to work wondering whether we will make it home safely.”
Yoliswa Sobuwa
www.timeslive.co.za