New rules for WhatsApp use at schools in South Africa
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) in South Africa is taking steps to strengthen regulations regarding WhatsApp communication between teachers and students.
This decision comes in response to several incidents involving inappropriate messages and allegations of sexual harassment, including a case that resulted in a teacher’s suspension at a high school in Johannesburg.
The move aims to clarify professional boundaries and ensure safe communication.
The department said it is actively drawing up terms to define appropriate conduct and digital boundaries between educators and pupils.
This is according to an interview with Likho Bottoman, Deputy Director for Social Mobilisation and Support Services in the DBE, on Newzroom Afrika.
She proposed establishing official school channels to prevent private messaging.
“As the Department of Basic Education, we recognise that the kind of teacher we have today is not a teacher who was prepared to use technological platforms to drive education practice,” she said
Instead of implementing an outright ban, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is taking a consultative approach with School Governing Body (SGB) associations to develop new regulations.
One proposal under discussion is to allow parents to join school WhatsApp groups.
This would help maintain supervision and accountability, even if parents do not actively participate in academic discussions.
The department has already launched safety workshops across all nine provinces to train teachers and students on how to identify and report online risks before they escalate.
The DBE said that any new regulations must not cut off communication channels entirely, as teachers often provide essential psychosocial and mental health support to children from vulnerable backgrounds or those in child-headed households.
“When it comes to school WhatsApp use, what we want to do is ensure that there are boundaries and structures that are put in place for that kind of communication.”
She explained that many children were unaware that they should report an incident if a teacher communicated with them inappropriately via WhatsApp.
Bottoman added that all nine provincial education departments participated in online safety workshops to prepare students and teachers to identify risks.
“This is so that they report them, because sometimes children don’t know what to do. They are confronted with this situation where a teacher is making sexual advances on them,” she said.
“Sometimes they post a meme. Just a meme, but a meme that has got sexual connotations, and children don’t know how to respond to that.”
The issue is the behaviour, not the method of communication
The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (FEDSAS) Deputy CEO Riaan Van der Bergh said in an interview with Talk Radio 702 that the problem goes beyond the technology itself.
“I’m not 100% sure that regulating something that is already unethical, unprofessional, and essentially wrong will fix the problem,” said Van der Bergh.
Van der Bergh emphasised that the issue is behaviour, not communication methods.
“I think it becomes very blurry when a teacher speaks directly individually to a learner rather than in a group where there are more eyes and ears to see what’s happening,” he said.
He suggested that schools should use formal communication platforms instead of teachers’ personal WhatsApp accounts, especially for one-on-one communication.
“People know what is right and wrong and what is ethically, morally good between a teacher and a learner. We should not over-regulate something that should come naturally in just protecting our learners at school.”
Van der Bergh said that parents play a crucial role in monitoring their children’s online activities, rather than relying solely on schools to address the issue.
“If you do not know what’s going on in your child’s online life, you do not know what’s going on in your child’s life.”
He said that a young person under the age of 18 cannot RICA a cell phone themselves, because they do not have an ID.
“So the parent is part and parcel of the contract of the phone. So parents need to step in and also be part of the solution.”
Van der Bergh proposed practical measures such as limiting communication to school hours, avoiding private conversations between teachers and students, and involving parents whenever possible.
Loading ...