Teacher forced my son to fight, claims parent

A KIMBERLEY parent has called for the dismissal of a teacher at Du Toitspan Primary School, who allegedly forced her 12-year-old son into a fistfight with a fellow classmate, in front of the entire class.

The parent said yesterday that her Grade 6 son came home from school on Monday afternoon with his face covered in bruises and blue marks, after allegedly being instigated by his teacher to fight another pupil in his class.

“My son came home and shielded his face from me. I later saw that both his eyes were swollen and blue and he had marks across his face, while the inside of his mouth was also bruised. I asked him what happened and he told me that his teacher had called him and another boy to the front of the class after the two had an argument.

“The teacher then said that they should come to the front of the class and ‘moer’ (hit) each other properly. The other boy began hitting my son with fists, while my son retaliated and stabbed the other pupil with a pen in his face,” the parent said.

She claimed that the two children were then instructed by the teacher to tell each other that they had now “moered” (hit) each other properly, saying that this was the way to solve problems.

She added that the alleged incident happened during the second last period of the day and that her son was forced to sit through the last period with the injuries to his face.

The parent went to the school shortly after the incident, where school authorities apparently tried to convince her to see if the issue could be resolved internally.

However, she decided to open a case against the teacher with the police and her son gave a statement.

According to her, she visited the school again yesterday morning and the principal admitted that the alleged incident had occurred as her son had described it.

She called for the dismissal of the teacher, saying it was totally unacceptable behaviour from a person that should be concerned about the wellbeing of children.

“Children are supposed to be safe in their school environment and not be taught that violence is the solution to problems. For a teacher to incite violence between primary school pupils is not only unacceptable but also totally unethical,” she stated.

She went on to say that she feared that the incident would have lasting effects on her son, including a tendency towards violence in future and also missing school as a result of mockery from other pupils.

Northern Cape Department of Education spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe, yesterday confirmed that the incident was brought to their attention and that they had commenced with an investigation into the matter.

“We can assure the public that all due processes, in line with our disciplinary procedures, will be executed pending the outcome of our investigation,” Van der Merwe said.

Police spokesperson, Colonel Dimakatso Mooi, also confirmed that police had opened a case of assault common following the incident, but added that no arrests had been made yet.