We are tired of being treated as though we are stupid
THE POLICE had to be called to assist after pupils at Olympic Primary School in Gemdene ran amok after classes ended yesterday.
A group of more than 100 pupils clambered onto the closed school gate and fence and also threw stones inside the premises after a teacher was allegedly assaulted by a colleague.
Furious
The group of pupils refused to go home, while furious parents stormed the schoolyard and demanded that the principal be fired.
The parents accused the Northern Cape Department of Education of doing little to restore order at the school.
The pupils, who had to be controlled by the police, climbed onto the fence, while some of them threw stones, and chanted that the principal must go.
According to the teacher who was allegedly assaulted, she was slapped in the face by a female colleague in the toilet during school hours.
This, she said, was after she raised questions regarding school funds during a parents’ meeting that took place on Wednesday afternoon.
She said she fled the school yesterday to call the police after she was apparently denied permission to use the school phone.
According to the teacher, this is not the first case of assault that she has opened against her colleagues.
She accused her colleagues of ganging up on her for being vocal about the school funds as well as allegations of abuse at the school.
“I opened a case of assault against the school principal back in 2017 and was later advised by the union to resign,” sobbed the teacher.
“They are untouchable, that is why I want a transfer.”
Parents, who had stormed into the schoolyard, meanwhile demanded that the principal be fired.
“He must go,” shouted a parent, who was echoed by the pupils.
“We are tired of being treated as though we are stupid. The school continues to demand money from us but we never get a financial report or know what is happening with the money.”
The parents supported the teacher, agreeing that her colleagues were ganging up on her.
“If that isn’t the case, she would not have been denied the right to use the school phone to call the police,” said one parent.
“If the department does not address this issue we will be forced to close this school,” the parents threatened.
Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson Geoffrey van der Merwe said he was still waiting for a report on the incident from the relevant officials and would only be able to respond to media enquiries today.
