RIGHTS BODY WARNS ON SCHOOL CLAMPS

CAPE TOWN - The education department would have to take care that it
did not violate the constitution and infringe on children's rights in
its attempt to clamp down on violent and drug-addictive school
behaviour, the South African Human Rights Commission cautioned yesterday.

The department has tabled controversial amendments to the Education
Laws Act which have drawn opposition from school governing bodies,
parents and unions.

As well as proposing measures to randomly search pupils for weapons
and test pupils for drug use, the bill proposes to introduce a set of
uniform norms and standards for all schools throughout the country
with regard to basic infrastructure.

Parliament's education portfolio committee heard yesterday that the
rights commission has been concerned for some time about the high
level of violence at schools, some of which it found were infiltrated
with gangsterism, vandalism and drugs.

It welcomed the government's attempt to create a legislative
framework for a safe school environment. The bill proposes to give
school principals the power to intervene in narrowly defined
circumstances where there is a reasonable suspicion that a learner is
carrying a dangerous object or drug.

The head of the commission's monitoring programme, Judith Cohen, said
care had to be taken when introducing limitations to children's
rights. She proposed a number of ways to search for and seize drugs
that would reduce this risk. She also expressed concern about
teachers being asked to perform the functions of the police.

Cohen believed it would be more appropriate for the police or other
departments to conduct random drug tests, because if teachers did so
it could hurt their relationships with pupils .

She said it had to be an absolute prerequisite that parents sign
consent forms for random drug testing before this was undertaken .

Trade unions were opposed to provisions in the bill that would remove
any legal obligation on Education Minister Naledi Pandor to consult
them and other stakeholders.

Various associations of school governors - the Governing Body
Foundation, the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African
Schools (Fedsas) and the Governor s Alliance - protested strongly
against the bill's proposals to limit their powers and undermine the
role of parents in decision-making.

Fedsas CEO Paul Colditz said the effect of the amendments would be to
place education "almost exclusively in the hands of the minister and
her departmental officials".