Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) is delighted to give a GLAD[1] to SowetanLIVE for its story about a school that is reportedly forced to continue with classes even though it allegedly poses a health risk for the teachers and pupils. Here, the journalist, Yoliswa Sobuwa gives a voice to the children by accessing one of the pupils who then speaks on behalf of the children, highlighting how they feel about the alleged neglect by the Gauteng education department.

“School defects pose danger to teachers, pupils” (SowetanLIVE, 29/06/2020) is a story about teachers and pupils at Eqinisweni Secondary School in Tembisa, north of Johannesburg, who have, according to the article, downed tools citing structural defects at their school that are a health and safety hazard.

Sobuwa reports that the teachers and pupils “complained that even though a report from the engineers sent by the Gauteng department of education showed the school in Ivory Park had problems, the district director still wanted them to continue with classes”.

Mpho Soarathle, a pupil at Eqinisweni Secondary School, speaking as a representative of the rest of the pupils is quoted directly as saying, “The district only cares about marks and attendance stats whereas we attend classes in dangerously cracked buildings. The district [however] declared the other part of the building safe… We cannot worry about being infected by Covid-19 and having classes falling on us.”

Although Mpho Soarathle’s age is not included in the article, it is of utmost importance that children’s voices are amplified in the media, especially on issues that affect their well-being. This is rubber stamped by MMA’s Editorial Guidelines and Principles for Reporting on Children in the Media[2] which state that “children have a right to have their views heard on matters that affect them, so [media should] try and include them”.

 The Guidelines further advise journalists that “when trying to determine the best interests of children, the children’s right to have their views taken into account is to be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity”. This has not been the case with most reportage around the Covid-19 pandemic, with children’s views and/or opinions being overlooked. However, Sobuwa has gone against the grain in this article and accessed a child to express his/her views and those of their fellow pupils.

As MMA, we would therefore like to congratulate SowetanLIVE and its journalist, Yoliswa Sobuwa. It is always a pleasure to read articles that take the necessary precautions and include children’s views when reporting on issues that affect the children. We further urge SowetanLIVE and the journalist to continue reporting on stories about children and afford the children an opportunity to express their views when it is in their best interest to do so. Adding children’s voices to stories about them not only enriches the stories with children’s perspectives but also empowers the children to speak on matters that affect them.By Azola Dayile

[1] A GLAD is awarded to an article that reports about children in a positive way.

[2] Find the guidelines here: http://54.217.43.239/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/mma_editorial_guideline.pdf.