Department cannot say how many teachers were vetted against child-protection registers

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube

The Department of Basic Education does not have verified year-by-year provincial data on educators vetted against the National Register for Sex Offenders and National Child Protection Register since 2019.

The department also does not have the number of teachers who have been vetted and registered by the South African Council of Educators (SACE) during the same period.

This was revealed by Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube when she was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Ciska Jordaan.

In her response, Gwarube said the department advised her that it did not have verified year-by-year provincial information on the number of names of teachers added or removed from the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO).