DAVEYTON Skills School teachers are in hot water following the drowning of two schoolboys during a trip.
The boys and 88 other pupils went on the trip on Thursday, 11 April, and were supposed to return on Tuesday, 16 April, but the trip was cut short due to an accident.
Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane told reporters during a briefing, on Wednesday, 17 April, that the trip was not approved, and a couple of teachers will be suspended.
"We're going to serve them with letters as of today. It's always difficult for the department to lose a child under any circumstances," Chiloane said.
He said a law firm that has been appointed to conduct enquiries and will give a full report of what had happened.
"Teachers know what to do. There's standard procedure to be followed and they should avoid being adventurous and short-circuiting things. There were no teachers on the trip, and with 90 pupils, anything can happen, and the trip was not sanctioned," Chiloane said.
"According to statistics, over 30% of pupils with special needs die because of drowning. Schools should know better.
"Even if nothing happened, as soon as we found out there was such a trip that was unauthorised, we were going to take action anyway."
The MEC said they are planning to teach every pupil in Gauteng schools to swim.
"Swimming is a life skill, not a privilege," he said.
The two pupils, aged 13 and 16, drowned during a discipline camp at Rock Falls Adventure Ranch in Centurion.
The department said the other pupil ran towards the Hennops River, near the camp, and struggled to get out of the water. His schoolmate followed to save him, and that's when the two drowned.
The camp was organised by the NPO, Rising Stars Generation.
A similar incident happened in January this year when a 12-year-old Latoya Temilton drowned during the trip by Laerskool Queenwood from Tshwane.
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