Protecting our teachers, protecting our schools

The teaching profession in South Africa stands at a dangerous crossroads. Increasingly, teachers face hostility not only from unruly pupils, but now also from parents – who should be their allies.

What was once regarded as a noble calling is today too often a battleground where teachers must defend their safety, dignity, and professional integrity.

Teachers recount being threatened outside the school gates, attacked online in parent WhatsApp groups, and undermined in classrooms where discipline is eroded. In too many schools, pupils show open defiance and parents respond not with concern for their children’s conduct, but with aggression towards teachers. This lack of respect strips teachers of authority and destabilises the very foundation of learning.

The reality is stark: discipline has become increasingly difficult to enforce. Teachers attempting to maintain order are met with resistance from both pupils and parents. Instead of reinforcing boundaries, some parents actively erode them, defending misbehaviour or wielding financial status as a shield against accountability. Social media fuels these tensions, amplifying grievances before cooler heads can prevail.

The result is a profession under siege, with many teachers leaving for corporate jobs or simply enduring in silence, no longer teaching with passion but merely for a paycheck. This haemorrhaging of morale and talent bodes ill for our children and for the country’s future.

Solutions demand urgency. The Department of Basic Education must go beyond token gestures, investing in safer schools, clear disciplinary frameworks, and enforceable protections for teachers.

Parents, too, must reclaim their role as partners, not adversaries, in education: supporting teachers, modelling respect, and teaching children that responsibility begins at home. Governing bodies should be empowered to mediate constructively, not sidelined.

At its heart, education is a trust. Teachers cannot nurture confident, capable pupils if they are constantly under attack. Restoring that trust – through respect, accountability, and co-operation – is not optional. It is the only path to saving our schools.