Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2010. / The study investigated the effect of crime in schools on a culture of teaching and learning. In this study the researcher employed a survey to achieve the aims of the study, and a questionnaire to obtain facts and opinions about the effect of crime in schools on a culture of teaching and learning. All children between the ages of 7 and 15 have a right to education. However, this right becomes meaningless unless the Department of Education, principals, educators, parents, children, learners, citizens and community members commit themselves to curbing crime and making the school environment conducive to learning. Crime has a negative influence on the morale of both educators and learners, as well as the culture of teaching and learning. Each educator and learner has the right to work and play in a secure and safe school environment and neighbourhood. Therefore it is important to do everything possible to eliminate crime in schools and neighbourhoods. Schools need to create a space where educators can teach and learners can learn. Teaching and learning require a safe and tolerant learning environment that celebrates innocence and values human dignity. From the literature study it became clear that many of the young people of South Africa will end up as drug addicts, violent criminals and anti-social individuals, rather than being an asset to the nation and the country’s economy. According to Shone (2007:27) crime is a “runaway train, reckless, out of control, unpredictably dangerous, picking up speed as it careers down the track towards schools”. For the purpose of the empirical investigation, a self-structured questionnaire for educators was utilized. The data obtained from the completed questionnaires was processed and analyzed by means of descriptive statistics. The findings from the empirical study confirmed that crime in schools has a negative effect on a culture of teaching and learning. In conclusion a summary of the study was presented and based on the findings of the literature and empirical study, the following recommendations were made:  The Department of Education must develop a practical formal policy on the safety of schools in collaboration with stakeholders like community structures, local private security companies, the South African Police Service, Social Workers and Psychologists.  Sufficient human and financial resources must be made available by the Department of Education for the training, supervision and monitoring of the school safety policy.  The Department of Education must also encourage communities, non-governmental organizations, faith-based organizations, and business, to support school safety initiatives and promote a safe learning environment.  The school’s code of conduct must be consulted when school safety policy is formulated. The code of conduct’s primary function is to ensure the safety of learners at school.  A code of conduct should contain regulations outlining the rules that the principal and the governing body must ensure are included in the code. The code of conduct must, inter alia: • aim to establish a disciplined and purposeful school environment; dedicated to the improvement and maintenance of a quality learning process, • outline how learners who disobey the code of conduct will be punished, • include a process for protecting the learner and any other party involved in disciplinary proceedings, and • include rules relating to school wear (cf.5.4.1).  For the code of conduct to be functional and successful class teachers must ensure that: • All learners have a copy of the code of conduct. • A copy of the code of conduct is displayed on the notice board in the classroom. • Learners follow the regulations as laid down in the code of conduct. • A code of conduct is periodically scrutinized by the school safety committee and amended when necessary.  The school safety policy must have clear and concise directives as to what is expected from the regions, districts, circuits, wards and schools.

The Department of Social Development introduced the Community Shepherds life skills Project at two schools in the Ficksburg community, in the Thabo Mofutsanyane district of the Free State in 2007 due to the high rate of crime that occurred in the schools. The project targeted children with a history of criminal behaviour and learners who exhibited other forms of anti-social behaviour, and provided them with life skills that could help them face life challenges. No systematic evaluation of the project has been made since its inception and, therefore, the aim of the study was to investigate the perceived impact of the Community Shepherds Project in reducing crime in schools in the Ficksburg community in the Free State province. To achieve the aim the following objectives were identified: To establish the perceived impact of the Community Shepherds Project’s life skills programme on the behaviour and conduct of learners who are participating in the project; to identify factors impacting on the successful implementation of the Community Shepherds project; and to suggest ways of strengthening the Community Shepherds Project. The study population consisted of learners who were members of the Community Shepherds Project in Ficksburg, who had participated in the project since its inception, and their parents. Teachers from the schools participating in the project and the police in Ficksburg constituted the key informants. The sample included 15 learners who were participating in the project who had been arrested for committing different offences and who displayed anti-social behaviour at home and in school, their 12 parents and 4 key informants from the police and the schools. A qualitative research design was used to collect data from the participants in order to obtain in-depth information concerning the perceived impact of the life skills programme on the behaviour and conduct of learners who participated in the programme. Different semi-structured interview schedules were administered to the learners, their parents and the key informants. The findings reveal that the perceptions of the respondents was that the life skills programme had an impact on the behaviour of learners because the life skills that they had gained from the programme helped them to stop committing the offences that they used to commit. The life skills also helped them to stop displaying the anti-social behaviour that they used to exhibit. 2 The findings revealed that the factors that contributed to the success of the project included the approaches that the facilitators used to run the project, like motivating the learners in everything that they did, and the cooperation between the facilitators, the school and the parents. The findings also reveal that the good team work that occurred between the learners, support from the parents, as well as support from the Department of Social Development, all contributed to the success of the project. The suggested ways of strengthening the Community Shepherds Project were that the project should be implemented in all schools in the community, including the primary and multiracial schools. It was also suggested that the project should include all youths in the community. The final suggestion was that the project should include all stakeholders in the community. The life skill projects should target unemployed youths in the communities so that they can gain skills that can help them become self-employed. The study also recommends that the life skills project should be implemented in all schools in South Africa to provide learners with life skills that can help them to face life challenges. Learners who have been involved in criminal activities should not be the only ones who are taught life skills – all learners should have the same opportunity.