Northern Cape school puts CCTV in toilets

2012-08-16 13:02

Picture: Shuttertstock

Kimberley - Pupils and parents at the Northern Cape High School in Kimberley are objecting to the installation of closed circuit television cameras in the school toilets, it was reported on Thursday.

The Volksblad reported that the school installed CCTV to curtail vandalism and bullying.

However an unnamed parent, the father of a matric pupil, told the newspaper his daughter no longer felt comfortable using the school toilets, as she found the cameras intrusive

The Volksblad reported that pupils had complained that the school had failed to tell them about the cameras.

Headmaster Henk Brand said no cameras had been installed in the actual toilet cubicles, but that there were cameras directed at the washbasins, and at the backs of boys standing at the urinals.

"We certainly aren't watching the girls' toilet cubicles or the front of the urinals," he said.

Brand reportedly said the basin areas were a constant source of aggravation to school authorities, because pupils scrawled on the walls, stuffed paper into the pipes or left taps running.

He said the cameras were installed a few days ago, and that his intention was to explain the system in detail at a school assembly on Monday.

"These cameras will benefit the whole school, increase general safety and prevent bullying," he said.

- SAPA