Safe Schools – Safe Children. Betafence South Africa – Securing What Matters

The South African education system is currently undergoing a major transformation. UNICEF, together with the National Department of Education is developing the “Safe, Caring and Child Friendly School Framework” – a set of six principles to transform schools into safe, protective and caring environments. The aim is to create schools in which children can safely learn and teachers can teach in warm, welcoming environments free from any form of intimidation, violence and fear.

At the heart of this framework lies the embodiment of the Constitutional right to education for all South Africans. The fulfilment of various South African laws and policies pertaining to education are being implemented through the framework. With particular relevance to Perimeter Security is The School Safety National Monitoring Strategy. This strategy outlines the DoE’s plan for school safety and focuses on five main pillars: physical infrastructure, support to management and teachers, learner support, partnerships and curriculum support.

In this expose we will be focusing on one of the five pillars, and more specifically on perimeter security as a part of the physical infrastructure of a school.

UNICEF cites a very good example of how perimeter security has been implemented at Tree Top Farm School in rural KwaZulu Natal. Identified as one of the country’s 500 most “at-risk” schools, before the installation of the fence, livestock and members of the public roamed freely across the school grounds causing disruption to classes and leaving the school grounds in disarray. But a community partnership with the local police and the private sector collaborated to install electricity, burglar bars and a fence around the school, and children now feel safe and the school remains clean.