National Child Protection Week (CPW) will come to an end this coming Sunday. It has been observed from 2 June under the theme: “Let us Protect All Children to Move South Africa Forward”. CPW aims to mobilise all sectors to ensure that children are cared for and protected, and that they are educated in a non-violent and safe learning and teaching environment.

In the spirit of collaboration to provide helpful information and services to South Africans during CPW, the DBE, Legal Aid South Africa and the South African Council for Social Service Professions (SACSSP) are embarking on a Scholar Abuse Awareness Campaign to provide South Africans with free legal advice and educate them on human rights issues, especially those relating to the rights of children to protect them from abuse.

The Campaign, which mostly takes the form of a radio campaign utilising community radio stations, will assist communities, scholars and their guardians, with identifying and understanding the procedures and responsibilities of reporting all forms of child abuse. The Campaign will afford also listeners with an opportunity to ask questions and register complaints to create a socially aware community that advocates social justice.

The DBE put clear measures in place to combat all forms of abuse against pupils in public and private schools through the development of a Protocol for the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in Schools to respond to allegations of sexual abuse and harassment. The Protocol provides guidance on the roles and responsibilities of each level within the system on how allegations of sexual abuse and harassment should be managed.