Zuma calls for peace in South Africa's schools

18 February 2016 - 16:56 By Genevieve Quintal
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Violence in schools need to be rooted out so that they become centres of learning and excellence, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.

"We must... make the schools peaceful and productive centres of learning and teaching," he said during his reply to the State of the Nation Address debate.

"In December 2015, a summit was hosted by the department of basic education involving teachers, learners and parents... where they all committed to work together to root out violence, drug and substance abuse and other anti-social behaviour in our schools."

Zuma said government was expanding school infrastructure with the building of three new universities and 12 technical colleges.

A total of 136 state of the art schools had also been built, while 71 schools were provided with water, 410 given decent sanitation and 294 provided with electricity.

"These interventions have been life-changing to learners and educators. Indeed, government is serious about education," he said.

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