Primary school sex attacks protest

[caption id="attachment_98597" align="alignright" width="300"] CALL FOR HELP: Parents and pupils protest outside Hankey Primary over the lack of action following claims of sexual assault and robberies as younger children share the high school building. Picture: FREDLIN ADRIAAN[/caption]

Parents stage lockout over lack of action on claims

ALLEGATIONS of primary school pupils being robbed and sexually assaulted by their high school counterparts have led to a lockout in an Eastern Cape rural town.

The protest at Hankey Primary School entered its second day yesterday as parents, staff and children braved the wet weather to demand urgent action.

The protesters claim several primary school pupils have fallen victim to attacks.

School principal Gordon Walsh said: “I know of three of these incidents taking place – the first was in April this year.”

No criminal complaints have been laid with the police.

But, according to school governing body (SGB) members, they had been told by the provincial Department of Education that the SGBs of both schools should meet rather than get the police involved.

Walsh said the situation arose after a contractor – hired by the department to carry out upgrades – was brought in, forcing the principal to relocate all grade 4 to 7 pupils into one of Hankey Senior Secondary’s classroom blocks. But the contractor never completed the work he started in January 2013.

“We were forced to relocate about 500 pupils – about half the school – to the senior school to make space for the contractor to work,” Walsh said.

On hearing about the cases of alleged sexual harassment, parents signed a petition in April about the incidents. They gave the petition to the department but had not received any response yet.

“Between myself, the senior school principal [Godfrey Thorne] and the community we have tried to do what we can to avoid future incidents by separating the primary and senior pupils with locks on the toilets and strategic wire placement,” Walsh said.

Hankey Primary SGB chairman Gideon Swarts said the community, staff and pupils were fed up with delay tactics by the department.

-Tremaine van Aardt