By Jonk wa Mashamba
news@alexreporter.co.za
Education activist Hendrick Makaneta has cautioned teachers who date school learners to refrain from their conduct.
Failure to which they will be hunted down and exposed for who they are.
Makaneta also called on Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to work around the clock to expose such teachers.
“It is not disgusting, but it is also unlawful for teachers to have sex with learners even if the learner stays in a faraway province.
“There is an unbecoming tendency of some teachers who think that, just because they are somewhere on holiday in a place far from their school, they are free to do whatever they want including getting into a sexual relationship with any girl that they want.
“If a teacher meets a beautiful girl on a weekend somewhere in another province, it is the duty of the teacher to verify if the girl is still a learner or not, to avoid harsh punishment from the authorities, ” Makaneta said.
Makaneta warned it does not matter whether the girl attends school in a different province.
He argues that a teacher remains a teacher even during school holidays.
“In fact, a teacher must remain a teacher for life. A teacher cannot just drink and sleep on the streets, just because it is school holidays.
“Members of the public should report unbecoming conduct from teachers who forget that they should be role models. It is because of ill disciplined teachers who engage in sexual activities with learners that the teaching profession is now undermined.
“As activists in the terrain of education, we will not be able to protect teachers who sleep with learners. It does not matter whether the learner is no longer a minor or whether the girl stays somewhere far away,” Makaneta added.
He called on the South African Council for Educators to fasten their seatbelts and be on the lookout for teachers who targets learners for pleasure.
“Younger teachers should also be careful when they are around schoolgirls. Young teachers should not allow themselves to be enticed by schoolgirls.
“Because of their age proximity to learners, at times young male teachers may develop affection to girls, but we want to caution them to always remember that even though they are young teachers, they must behave like parents of learners as expected by the legal duty of care.
“Young teachers cannot say because they are young, they have a right to date another young person even if that young person is a school learner. They must set up boundaries and behave in a befitting manner like parents.
“In the absence of parents at school, teachers automatically assume the role of parents. This includes young teachers as well.”
Makaneta’s remark follows the arrest of a teacher at Mbilwi secondary school on May 14th for allegedly sleeping with a learner.