A Uitenhage teenager is petrified to go to school following an incident in which a teacher allegedly grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, threw him into his classroom and assaulted him behind a locked door.
It is the second alleged assault of a pupil by a teacher at a special needs school in the Bay in less than a month.
In the latest incident, a 17year-old pupil at Bergsig Special School was allegedly verbally and physically assaulted by a teacher on September 5.
Police are investigating as well as the department of education after the school failed to report it.
Speaking from his Vanes Estate home, the grade 10 pupil said that after asking the teacher at the end of the school day if he could retrieve a Wi-Fi router from a friend in class, the teacher agreed but allegedly told the pupil “nou [now] f*** off”, once he took the router.
The pupil said he had responded in Afrikaans, saying, “sir, you can’t talk to me like that”, to which the teacher allegedly responded angrily: “Hou jy jou slim? Ek slaan jou tanne uit jou bek uit [Are you trying to be clever? I’ll hit your teeth out of your mouth].”
The teacher dismissed his class but as the pupil was walking away with classmates, the teacher allegedly grabbed him by his shirt collar and threw him into the classroom before allegedly slapping him in the face several times and punching him in the chest.
“He tried to push me into his office inside the classroom, but I managed to push him off and pointed to the camera in the class, saying it would see everything,” the pupil said.
“He then [allegedly] hit me a few times with the flat hand before saying he doesn’t care about the camera.
“My friends were on the other side of the door trying to kick it open, but the teacher had locked it.
“He then pushed me against the wall and as I tried to run away he tore my school jersey and damaged my shoes.
“My friends went to call another teacher, who came and banged on the door, demanding that it be opened – other pupils were watching through the window. He [the teacher] shouted at me, saying I’m not his playmate and told me to get out of his class.
“The other teacher then took me to the principal’s office to report it.
“But [the principal] wasn’t there and I was told to come back the next day, which I did – with my grandparents.”
The teen’s grandmother said they had delayed reporting the matter to the district education department to give the principal an opportunity to report it.
“The following day, I asked the principal to please allow him to write his exams in a separate office and go home afterwards as he was very concerned he would bump into the teacher who might be angry that he was reported,” the woman said.
“It lasted one day and he was sent back to class to write with the rest.
“Then, to top it all off, he was forbidden from writing his natural science exam because he was wearing takkies instead of school shoes.”
The woman said her grandson had written every other exam last week in takkies because his school shoes were damaged in the alleged assault.
“It seems he is being targeted by the teachers,” she said.
The principal, Deon Wolmarans, denied a reporter access to the teacher on Monday last week to allow him to give his side of the story, and declined to comment himself.
Police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart confirmed that a case of common assault was being investigated.
Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said the department had launched a preliminary investigation on Friday after Wolmarans failed to report the matter.
Mtima said the department had found out about the alleged incident only a week later after the pupil’s grandparents – with whom he lives – reported it to the district department.
He said the teacher would remain at the school until the preliminary investigation was completed.
“The principal seemingly tried to resolve the matter internally, which is against department policy,” Mtima said.
Asked what type of training the department provided when it came to special needs pupils, he said: “The department only hires teachers with suitable special needs qualifications for special needs schools.
“Additionally, there are regular training workshops which special needs teachers are required to attend.”
Psychologists Gerhardt Goosen and Carol Vogel said discipline was lacking in teachers and pupils lately.
“Teachers also feel they have no support from higher structures,” Goosen said.
“Kids need to be taught discipline to understand the rules, but they are not allowed to be disciplined by their teachers, creating an unhealthy situation in schools. As a result, pupils don’t respect teachers.”
Vogel said: “A contributing factor to the ill-discipline could also be that parents expect teachers to teach their children self-control, unloading their responsibility onto teachers.
“That being said, an inspectorate system also needs to be brought back to hold teachers to account.”
A grade 4 teacher at Northern Lights Special School in Cotswold – already issued with a final warning for intimidating a child – is also being investigated after allegedly punching a 14-year-old grade 7 pupil with a learning disability.