Laerskool Mikro under spotlight over ‘k-word’
THE provincial Education Department said it is preparing an intervention programme at Laerskool Mikro in Kuilsriver, after the school allowed a pupil who called his peers the “K-word”, to be a prefect and student leader.
Last September, the Grade 6 pupil was disciplined and asked to apologise.
But the following month, parents said, the SGB had allowed him to be elected a prefect. A group of irate parents have since challenged the school. They met school officials who explained that the school’s constitution did not state that disciplinary action disqualified any pupil from becoming a prefect.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond yesterday said the district had determined that the steps taken by the SGB were within policy.
“The WCED does not condone any racism in our schools and have been informed that the pupil was issued with a warning, made to apologise and had to do community service. ”
Principal Louis Mouton said: “The final decision was based on the consideration of impact on all relevant parties, the boy’s response to the incident, the lessons from this incident, the fact that people – especially young children like the boy – make mistakes and mistakes must have consequences, but also that one should be able to learn from mistakes.”
A parent, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of victimisation, said the school had to work on incorporating inclusivity. Her own children had reported being told by other pupils: “You are dirty because you are brown’; ‘You brown people are gangsters’ and other derogatory terms.
EFF provincial deputy secretary Reggie Snyders said: “The pupil should have been taken to an independent rehabilitation programme which would assess and ascertain if he understands the importance of respecting people’s racial and cultural backgrounds.”