WCED releases guidelines on playground safety

Bulelani Guwa
03 April  2014

The Western Cape Department of Education on Wednesday released its guidelines on playground safety at schools.  Ministerial Spokesperson Bronagh Casey said playground is another element of safety that is often seen as less critical, but which is equally important.

Casey said these guidelines best communicate the roles and responsibilities of the principal and educators on how to deal with safety on the playground.

Casey added that schools should ensure there are sufficient supervisors for the number of learners during break time and after school and training is made available for the supervisors on safety rules and the use of playground equipment.

 She concluded that learners should be educated on how to use playground equipment and schools should draft written playground safety rules.  The department is optimistic that by taking such precautionary steps the number of incidents that are harmful to learners can be reduced.