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The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape is deeply concerned about the reports of bullying taking place in some of the schools in the province. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has an unyielding determination to ensure that the safe learning environment  needed for successful teaching and learning is provided to all schools in the province.

I will be writing a letter to the MEC to determine exactly what measures are in place to deal specifically with bullying and what support programmes are in place to assist victims of bullying.

We note that the Department is also calling on all teachers in our schools to ensure that such acts are not committed by improving the supervision of learners and that learners are educated on bullying.  We urge schools to deal with bullying in terms of the schools codes of conduct as well as urge each school to intervene and provide support to victims of bullying. 

Many cases of bullying go unreported and therefore are not dealt with accordingly.  We urge victims to make use of the WCED Safe Schools Hotline available to all schools to ensure that adequate action is taken.  Parents also need to be aware of what is happening in their children lives as this may lead to early detection of something wrong. 

The WCED Safe Schools call centre can be reached at toll-free number 0800 45 46 47.

Issued by DA Western Cape