Girl, 11,‘bullied’ by teacher

A MOTHER has been forced to transfer her 11-year-old daughter to another school after she was allegedly repeatedly bullied and mocked by a teacher.

The woman, 37, claims her pleas for intervention went unanswered.

She claimed her daughter had been taunted and mocked by her class teacher at a Chatsworth, Durban, school from the start of the term.

“Despite my approaching the school on countless occasions, nothing was done. I couldn’t stand to see my daughter arrive home in tears. She even went as far as talking about suicide. This forced us to transfer her to another school.”

However, the mother has vowed not to let the matter rest until action is taken against the teacher. “We send our children to school with the belief that the teachers will protect and motivate them, like a parent would. But that hasn’t been the case at this school.”

She has now referred the matter to the Department of Education and the South African Council for Educators.

“My daughter initially came home with a default letter for incomplete work. She said she had completed her work in another book but did not have the time to transfer it to her homework book because the lesson had ended.

“She told us we should speak to the teacher about embarrassing her in class.”

She said her daughter had cried as she related the following alleged incident.

“She told me two new children joined their class and the teacher told them that there were naughty children that they should not play with. She then made six of the so-called naughty pupils stand up, and this included my daughter.”

Her daughter, she said, had drawn an incorrect diagram of a plant during her natural science and technology lesson.

“The teacher told her to draw the exact diagram on the blackboard. The children began laughing at my daughter and the teacher did not stop them,” she said.

“My daughter was also humiliated during a physical education (PE) lesson. She was unable to do the ‘duck walk’ and ‘golden chair’. The teacher stopped the lesson and told the other girls that, because of my daughter, they would no longer have PE. The girls became angry and began taunting my child.”

A meeting with the principal resulted in the teacher apologising for the alleged misconduct, said the mother.

“I thought that would be the end of it, but it was not.”

The principal declined to comment. KZN Education Department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said officials would investigate the matter.