Corporal Punishment Image@StopChildCruel1
DA condemns seven-year-old learner BEATEN with A PIPE for R10
A learner who could not afford to bring R10 to school was beaten with a pipe by a teacher at a Phoenix school in Durban
Corporal Punishment Image@StopChildCruel1
The Democratic Alliance(DA) in KwaZulu-Natal has called for the suspension of a teacher who is alleged to have brutally assaulted a seven-year-old learner at Ottawa Primary School in Phoenix, north of Durban.
LEARNER LEFT WITH BRUISES
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According to the DA’s spokesperson on education, Imran Keeka, the child’s grandmother says the school requested learners to bring R10 to school for unknown reason. The family could not afford to give the child the R10, which lead to the teacher beating the child with a pipe.
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Keeka says the incident as shocking as it may be, is still prevalent in school across the province and has accused the MEC for Education Mbali Frazer of not taking a stand against corporal punishment.
“Corporal punishment has been outlawed. Section 10 of the South African Schools Act is explicit in this regard and every teacher should know this”, says Keeka.
“To date, KZN’s Department of Education (DoE) has not taken any action against any educator recently found guilty of such action. This while we know that caning is still taking place in some of the province’s schools”, he adds.
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DA CALLS FOR INTERVENTION BY TEACHERS STATUTORY BODY
The DA has called for the teacher to be suspended pending police and internal investigations.
Keeka says the will be writing to the South African Council of Educators (SACE) – the statutory council registering educators – to request that it launches its own investigation into the matter.
“In the event that the teacher involved is found guilty, the book must be thrown at her for bullying and beating a young girl.”
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“It has become the norm within KZN’s schools that when such horrific incidents take place, there are no suspensions that follow. This leaves alleged victims in the same space as the person accused of assaulting them. This is unacceptable”, he concludes.
