Africa-Press – South-Africa. A recent report by Stats SA revealed that nearly half of the children who experienced violence in schools live in the Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and North West.
The report, titled “Children exposed to maltreatment, 2021”, showed that a higher percentage of children across the country reported being the subject of corporal punishment by a teacher between 2009 and 2019.
The second most common act of violence experienced by pupils was verbal abuse by teachers, which could take the form of insults, teasing and harassment.
The third most common type suffered was physical violence by teachers.
Despite this, the report showed that the percentage of pupils who reportedly experienced any form of violence at school dropped between 2009 and 2019, from 18.6% to 8.2%.
The report stated:
It added that violence at schools seems to have a geographical component, as nearly half (47.6%) were residents of Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and North West, and most were in rural areas.
The report found that children in lower household income quintiles were most likely to experience some form of violence, corporal punishment or verbal abuse at school from a school official or other learners.
“Those in the highest income quintiles were less likely to experience any form of violence. In 2009, 43.4% of children who experienced violence at school were from a low-income group (quintiles one and two). This percentage increased to 46.2% in 2019.
“However, the percentage of children from the highest income group who experienced violence at school increased from 9.3% in 2009, to 14.4% in 2009,” it said.
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