TEACHER ADVOCACY IS A KEY TO CREATING A SAFE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL Tshwanelo Mmutlana NAPTOSA (National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa)
“How is it that SRGBV has not been arrested, tried, found guilty and sentenced to serve time for its crime against humanity?” I ask myself. “How is it that SRGBV is allowed to reign and plague the lives of so many, children, young children in particular?” This worm is allowed to feed and grow and render schools unsafe for learning and teaching. SRGBV was a champion gladiator with many victories, and hungry for more. Clearly this was a case of do or die. Were there any warriors, courageous souls with insight to challenge this goliath? Has the story of David vs Goliath not inspired anyone to take a stand and crush the head of this giant worm? Being called to be an SRGBV change agent was not something I asked for. I had no choice as a loyal union employee but to champion the SRGBV initiative in our union. Mine was to coordinate the union’s activities and write reports. Little did I know, that I too would be personally touched by the initiative. The first activity was organizing a national “hearing our stories” workshop for a select group of union members, in particular young leaders. Many, including myself were curious as to what this “hearing our stories” is all about. By the end of the “hearing our stories” session I realized just how important it was to hear the stories of union members. It was clear that there were many stories of SRGBV and that there was in many instances no action for recourse for victims.
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