Corpun file 24578 at www.corpun.com

The Star, Johannesburg, 13 June 2013, p.4

Parents bribed by sex pest teachers

A frame grab taken from cellphone video footage of a teacher hitting a pupil with a stick at Parktown Boys' High School in 2006. Errant teachers are being investigated.

By Lebogang Seale

(extracts)

Johannesburg -- Sexual harassment and rape of pupils by their teachers and corporal punishment accounted for the most cases of unethical conduct that the SA Council of Educators (SACE) is investigating.

The council is also dealing with increasing incidents of teachers bribing their victims to stop them from testifying for fear of losing their jobs and being jailed.

SACE's chief executive, Matseliso Dipholo, revealed this on Wednesday when the body presented its annual performance plan before parliament's standing committee on education and recreation.

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The council was also dealing with the increasing cases of corporal punishment against teachers. Dipholo attributed this to teachers' inability "to deal with learners' misbehaviour nowadays" or to use alternative punitive measures.

"Corporal punishment is on the rise again. They don't want to beat children, but sometimes they lose their cool, so (efficient) class management is crucial," she said, adding that drunkenness and lack of punctuality among teachers were also a grave concern.

Dipholo said the council was also dealing with a rising number of fraudulent teacher-qualifications and SACE certificates.

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