The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is working closely with the Department of Community Safety on the issue of truancy.

The WCED has found that persistent truancy reflects deeper social issues that cannot be dealt with by simply applying school discipline. We have to work with other agencies dealing with broader social issues.

Community Safety has appointed 31 Learner Support Officers (LSOs) who are working with Safe Schools coordinators at selected schools on the Cape Flats and two of the WCED’s district offices, known as Education Management and Development Centres (EMDCs).

Twenty-four of the LSOs are based at individual schools on the Cape Flats, while seven are based at the WCED’s Metropole North and South EMDCs.

The LSOs assist the Safe Schools coordinators in meeting major challenges facing the learning sites and communities, for example gangsterism, abuse, crime, rape, racism, teenage sexuality, vandalism and burglaries.

"The LSOs and Safe Schools coordinators try to combat the root causes of crime and violence by assisting schools in their efforts to become centres of excellence with strong community links, to promote youth development," says Nariman Khan, manager of the Safe Schools Division.

"The LSOs support the Safe Schools coordinators in their efforts to facilitate various attitudinal and behavioural programmes, to transform hearts and minds in schools and in surrounding communities."

These activities include advocacy campaigns to gain the support of parents and broader community, in an effort to change the culture of truancy. These activities include after-school and holiday programmes, Back-to-School Drives, parent meetings and crime prevention training.

Schools are responsible for monitoring incidents of truancy. LSOs visit learners at their homes if they have been absent from school for more than seven days. The LSO will hand a letter to the parents explaining their rights and responsibilities in terms of Article 3.1 of the South African Schools Act of 1996, Section 84. Parents are expected to respond within 14 days of delivery of letter.

The LSO will provide written reports on incidents of truancy to Safe Schools, the school, the EMDC and the parents. The EMDC, Safe Schools and schools will work with the LSO on appropriate interventions. If the learner does not respond, the LSO will submit all relevant documentation to the EMDC Director or Head of Education for further action.

LSOs work with Safe Schools Coordinators, EMDCs, schools and local communities to develop support structures to deal creatively with truancy and learners at risk.

"Truancy typically involves a range of socio-economic problems that have to be addressed by the relevant authorities. We therefore have to work in partnership with other departments, service providers and the communities concerned on dealing with these issues," Ms Khan says.