Statement by Cameron Dugmore, MEC for Education in the Western Cape

Premier Ebrahim Rasool launched a new era in school security on Friday, 20 June 2008, when he switched on a new CCTV system at Levana Primary School in Lavender Hill.

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is investing more than R12-million this year in CCTV security systems at 60 high-risk schools in the province.

The project forms part of a programme to beef up security at schools in 21 of the province's poorest communities earmarked for special attention by the provincial government.

Participants in Friday's ceremony also included Cameron Dugmore, MEC for Education in the Western Cape, and Ron Swartz, Head of Education in the province.

The CCTV systems will help to secure school premises from encroachment, while also providing a mechanism for monitoring behaviour within schools.

The contractor commissioned by the WCED began work on the systems about eight months ago and is completing the project in phases. The project is currently ahead of schedule.

The WCED has signed off the first phase, which involved installations at five schools, including Levana Primary. The contractor has trained school safety committee members on using the systems, and has provided the schools with training manuals.

The department expects to sign off systems at a further 39 schools shortly, once snag lists have been finalized and dealt with. These schools represent the second, third and fourth stages of the project.

The contractor will start work on the fifth and final phase next week when it starts installing CCTV systems at the remaining 16 schools.

The contractor is currently monitoring Levana Primary School from a control centre in Maitland 24 hours a day. This is an interim measure to test the effectiveness of the system while developing a more comprehensive monitoring system with the WCED's Safe Schools Division.

Surveillance staff can now monitor school premises from day to day to ensure the safety of both teachers and learners.

The system is designed to facilitate recording, storing and managing digital recordings for at least 30 days. It can back up initial recordings for long-term storage.

The first five schools with the systems have already responded positively to the installation of the cameras.

School managers at one school have reported identifying learners scaling a fence during school time and that they had disciplined the learners appropriately.

Another school reported that learners were better behaved during intervals, because the learners are aware that they are being monitored.

Another school reported that the number of illegal activities in the area around the school had declined because local people are aware that the outdoor cameras can zoom in on any activity within 480 metres of the school.

All 60 schools have links to armed response support that will be on the scene in less than 10 minutes. Other security measures include safety gates, burglar bars and mesh wire guards.

Monitoring

School safety committees will be responsible for monitoring school premises using the CCTV systems. The contractor is training five staff members at every school, who will know how to change camera settings to meet specific needs.

The trained staff will work with community policing forums and the South African Police Services and will liaise with armed response service providers.

Maintenance

The contractor will guarantee and maintain the systems in terms of the tender contract for two years, after which schools will be responsible for maintaining the systems. The company has a call centre to handle queries that operation around the clock.

Behaviour management

The CCTV systems will support current policy on registering incidents and reporting incidents to the WCED's Safe Schools Call Centre. The Safe Schools Division will monitor reports to see if the presence of the CCTV systems is making any difference to reported behaviour.

Vandalism and burglary

The contractor is installing cameras optimally to cover areas most at risk from burglary and vandalism. The WCED is hoping that constant monitoring will reduce the incidence of these crimes.

Typical installation

Typical installations include coverage of outdoor, corridors and indoor locations. All the cameras can monitor locations in during both the day and the night, using infra-red surveillance.

Outdoor installations typically include four "Pan, Tilt and Zoom" (PTZ) cameras mounted on 9m-high concrete masts in weather-proof housings. The cameras have a 30 times optical and 300 times digital zoom capability. They can pan at a speed of 400 degrees per second.

Installations in corridors will typically include 12 fixed, high-resolution, vandal-proof "bullet" cameras with 12 mm varifocal lenses. Indoor installations will typically include 10 vandal-proof mini-dome cameras in selected classrooms.

Monitoring equipment will include a built-in digital video camera for capturing recordings from all cameras. The cameras can be connected to centralised monitoring at a later stage.

Schools and the WCED's Safe Schools Division will use the CCTV systems to complement a range of other measures to ensure school security.

These include fences, burglar bars, alarm systems, armed response services and working with the police, police reservists, Bambanani volunteers and community policing forums, among others.

The WCED has deployed Safety Resource Officers to schools to work with schools on safety issues and to work with learners on developing positive approaches to school. The officers organise holiday programmes and help to start youth clubs in communities.

All of these measures are making a difference. Ultimately, however, school security depends on the attitudes of learners and the way in which families and communities support teaching and learning at schools.

For enquiries, contact Gert Witbooi:  082 550 3938, or gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za or Paddy Attwell: pattwell@pgwc.gov.za.

Seen here is a selection of views from some of the cameras at Levana Primary School. The outdoor PTZ cameras (pan, tilt and zoom) can swivel at speeds of 400 deg/sec and can zoom in on any activity within 480 metres of the school.

Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za

The Western Cape - A Home for All
INtshona Koloni - iKhaya loMntu wonke
Die Wes-Kaap - 'n Tuiste vir Almal