The number of teachers undergoing criminal checks has grown by 254% since 2019, survey finds
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Johannesburg - Sexual assault, theft, traffic offences, fraud and drug trafficking.
This is not someone’s rap sheet: these are the offences committed by teachers at public and private schools, who are still teaching.
A survey by TPN Credit Bureau revealed that 3.6% of teachers have a criminal record and more than two-thirds failed to declare their previous convictions. A policy introduced in 2019 required all educators registering with the South African Council of Educators (Sace) to obtain and submit police clearance certificates.
Schools are legally required to conduct background checks on prospective teachers, sports coaches, administrators and even grounds staff to ensure they are not on the National Register of Sexual Offenders (NRSO) and the National Child Protection Register. As a result, the number of educators undergoing criminal checks grew by 254% since 2019.
But the rules are not absolute. A person with a criminal record older than 10 years and whose sentences are listed in section 271B(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act, can apply to have their record expunged. It is also possible that, should your details be included on the NRSO, it could be removed by applying to the Registrar, but this depends on the type of sentence received upon conviction, as some details may not be removed.
TPN legal counsel Ashleigh Laurent said teachers with criminal records slipped through the cracks as those employed before the introduction of the new policy were not required to submit police clearance certificates.
“This means that schools, crèches, after-care facilities and institutions caring for mentally vulnerable individuals need to conduct regular criminal checks, even on long-standing employees, to ensure that none of their staff have a criminal record,” she said.
But Sace chief executive Ella Mokgalane said the body did not operate retrospectively for educators who were employed.
“The council (Sace) is the custodian of the teaching profession and has to determine whether an applicant is deemed fit to teach, irrespective of whether they have served time or not. This is a decision to be taken by the ‘fit to teach’ committee of the council.
“All applicants who applied from 2019 have a duty to present their criminal record certificates and we have not had applicants slipping through the cracks, as no application gets processed without a police clearance certificate. Those who have to appear before a ‘fit to teach’ committee of the council get referred and the committee makes a determination as to their fitness to teach,” she said.
The National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB), which represents 9 000 schools countrywide, said the Department of Basic Education (DBE) should be blamed for not conducting the proper checks.
NASGB general secretary Matakanye Matakanye urged parents to become whistle-blowers and identify the culprits. He said corruption runs deep and many teachers were employed with questionable certificates and qualifications.
“We must get rid of them, we cannot allow criminals to work with our children,” he said.
Matakanye alleged that many teachers “buy” their way into the classrooms through their relationships with people in senior posts.
“The 3% with criminal records may be good teachers in subjects like maths, science and technology and our children will suffer. But if our children find out they are being taught by criminals they will lose respect for them and start misbehaving with the teachers,” he said.
DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the department was concerned that some among its employees had criminal records and it was particularly worrisome that their criminal records had not been declared.
“The sector has been working to tighten the vetting processes for teachers entering the profession, but also introduced new conditions of employment to ban for life educators involved in offences related to gender-based violence such as sexual assault. The department is working closely with stakeholders to ensure that the system employs only teachers who meet academic requirements and who havebeen vetted and cleared,” he said.
Mhlanga said the DBE found that school governing bodies also employed teachers without vetting them, only to find that some of them had been dismissed elsewhere for sexual offences.
“SGBs should also reflect and correct their recruitment process and requirements which are often weak,” he said.
Mugwena Maluleke, general secretary of the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), said it was crucial that Sace strengthened its capacity so that whatever information teachers declared was verifiable, as it was the only body that could monitor this.
“What we do know is in the case of a sexual offence, the teacher is fired and struck off the roll. Any sexual offence or corporal punishment is a dismissible offence.”
Maluleke said it was also possible that some teachers lied to the police, which is how they managed to keep their jobs.
Laurent added that anybody with their name on the registers was precluded from being employed as an educator or in any capacity where they may have access to children or other vulnerable persons.
She said the onus was on provincial departments of education in the case of government schools, principals and the owners of any facilities which cared for children or mentally vulnerable people to ensure that each staff member was thoroughly vetted.
School principals who don’t conduct these checks can themselves be held criminally and civilly liable for failing in their duty and the care of children or vulnerable people.
“One must err on the side of caution in respect of taking action against educators prematurely. The fact that the conviction came prior to 2019 doesn’t mean a teacher can hide it. Periodic checks by schools will reveal these convictions,” Laurent said.