A school principal has landed himself in hot water for beating up students with a hose pipe as a disciplinary measure.
This came to light after one of the girls he allegedly assaulted suffered an injury and reported it to her parents.
Malibongwe Ntame, provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, said the union supports the department’s stance to do away with corporal punishment.
Meanwhile, SGB chair Reuben Sylvester said it had arranged to meet education department representatives at the school on Wednesday, but the officials did not turn up.
“We have decided on this move because our children’s lives are at stake. We cannot sit back. If we don’t take action like this, when will they listen?
“If we sit with arms folded and wait, we won’t achieve anything and our school will collapse.”
The SGB wanted the department to commit to fixing the building and employing more teachers.
“We want them to send construction teams to start working. They have been promising for years to fix the school.”
Principal Richard Joubert said: “This is not an ideal situation for this time of year usually pupils are getting ready for midyear exams.
“We were forced to at least keep grade 12 classes open because we are an underperforming school.”
He said the entire school community was anxious about the situation.
“We know that when time is lost we cannot get it back. Catchup plans need to be put in place, but unfortunately at this stage we are not sure how long the pupils will be away from school.”
