Faizel Patel – 13/05/2021

(Twitter: @FaizelPatel143)

Vodacom has partnered with the Basic Education Department to place twenty psychosocial professionals in their Schools of Excellence (SoE) across the country aimed at reducing the scourge of violence plaguing schools in South Africa

The initiative is part of Vodacom’s gender-based violence ecosystem, which provides prevention, response, and victim support programs in partnership with government and civil society organisations.

Following a rigorous selection process, which commenced in 2020 with the participation of the University of Stellenbosch, so far, ten such professionals have been placed in KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces with effect from the 2021 academic year.

In recent weeks, the DBE has condemned rising cases of bullying in schools after the death by suicide of a learner in a Limpopo school in April 2021.

A video went viral showing the learner being assaulted in the school premises by a fellow teenage learner in full view of peer bystanders.

Takalani Netshitenzhe, Director of External Affairs in Vodacom Group says the company is committed to addressing societal challenges.

“Vodacom continues to collaborate with the public sector and non-government organisations to find long-lasting solutions to deal with some of the socio-economic problems affecting women and children. In South Africa, school violence is arguably a national crisis, and measures, such as this initiative with the DBE, will also provide support to communities, including both the victims and perpetrators of gender-based violence.”

In a National School Violence study conducted by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention in co-operation with the DBE, 22% of high school learners experienced violence.

With a startling school dropout rate of about 50%, and youth unemployment being a major challenge in this country, SA needs to break the cycle of school violence that only exacerbates a loss of hope and optimism in young people’s future, and the capability to cope with adversity in social and economic environments.

Vodacom says it hopes that through this initiative, they can help to transform schools into places of safety and learning, where learners can flourish without fear and make a positive impact on the communities in which they live and on society more broadly.