Queen’s High Centre. Image via: Gauteng Education Department
Lesufi welcomes suspension of teacher accused of racism
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited Northriding Secondary School, where a teacher was accused of racism
Queen’s High Centre. Image via: Gauteng Education Department
Gauteng’s Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has expressed disappointment in a Northriding Secondary School teacher who is accused of racism, after she allegedly called a pupil a k*ffir. The educator has since been suspended, which Lesufi’s office has welcomed.
“As a Department, we are extremely disappointed about this incident – racism will never be tolerated in our schools. Educators must always teach and guide learners; not fight them. We welcome the move by the School Governing Body to suspend the teacher with immediate effect while disciplinary processes are being finalised,” Lesufi said during a visit to the school on Friday 7 May 2021.
It is believed that the Afrikaans teacher at Northriding Secondary School had been embroiled in a spat with a Grade 8 learner over noise-making in class on Thursday, 6 May 2021.
“The educator is then alleged to have sprayed the learner with sanitizer following he left the classroom to report to the matter to another teacher in the neighbouring class. It is alleged that the accused educator followed and started to engage violently with the learner, further spraying the learner with sanitizer all over his body and allegedly calling him a ‘kaff*r’. The violence stopped only after the intervention of the other teacher.”
Gauteng Education Department
Racism rocks Northriding Secondary School
The racism allegations don’t end there, according to Gauteng’s Basic Education Department, the same Northriding Secondary School teacher then got involved in another altercation with other learners and allegedly called them baboons, drug dealers and the k-word.
The department said soon other teachers, the principal and the Representative Council of Learners (RCL) intervened in the matter.
“The School Governing Body (SGB) was then informed about the matter and it was decided that the educator be suspended and released immediately until the disciplinary process is finalised,” the department further said.
“The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE)’s Psycho-social Team today, 7 May 2021, visited the school to provide support for all affected by the incident. The District has briefed the affected parents on decisions taken on this matter while also extending professional support”
