Education and health advocacy organisation Section 27 has urged education officials and school governing bodies to vet candidates before they are employed in schools and use the Child Protection Register in the appointment process.
The call follows the public law and rights group’s positive strides in its eight-year battle to find justice for two North West siblings who were sexually abused by a caretaker at their school.
This week, the Department of Social Development confirmed the name of the caretaker – who was found guilty of sexual abuse of the two minor children by the school’s disciplinary process – will be added to the Child Protection Register.
The criminal trial of the caretaker, who is facing a charge of rape and sexual assault, is expected to resume this month.
The caretaker, who is accused of raping one sibling in 2015 and sexually assaulting the other in 2017, is currently out on bail.
The caretaker was only investigated and found guilty of sexually assaulting the siblings by a disciplinary inquiry of the Department of Education following Section 27’s intervention at the request of the Teddy Bear clinic seven years after the first abuse took place.
Zeenat Sujee, a senior attorney at Section 27, said the minor pupils are still getting psycho-social support.
“They are still at school and doing well,” she said.
Sujee said part B of the of the Child Protection Register is to have a record of persons who are unsuitable to work with children. She said the information in the register is used to protect children in general against abuse from these persons.
“Section 123 states that a person who appears on part B of the register is not allowed to work with children,” she said.
Explaining the difference between the Child Protection Register and the National Register of Sex Offenders, she said: “What sets the Child Protection Register apart from National Register for Sex Offenders is that you may be put on the Child Protection Register if you have been found guilty by a disciplinary committee, as was the case in this matter, whereas, the National Register for Sex Offenders requires that the person be convicted by a court of law.”
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