Challenges faced by the School Management Team (SMT) regarding school safety

Abstract

This research study seeks to examine the challenges faced by School Management Teams in terms of school safety at schools in the Motetema Circuit. The problem is the disruption of lessons and the number of cases reported to the nearest police station from schools in the Motetema Circuit. Learners and educators tend to be concerned about their safety instead of concentrating on learning and teaching. Local and international articles and other sources were used in the literature review to form the basis of my study. Most of the literature studied reveals that if learners and educators do not feel safe, learning and teaching will not be effective. Learning should be conducted in a safe environment. Well-disciplined schools should be established and programmes should be developed to address school safety. Three schools were sampled in the Motetema Circuit, Greater Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province in South Africa. Data was collected through interviews, observations and document analysis. At each school SMT members were engaged in focus group interviews for a period of one and half hours. Categories and themes were used to analyse the data collected. In consideration of all the challenges associated with school safety, School Management Teams need to have sufficient knowledge, skills and resources to promote safety at school. Copyright