Teachers from Tuscany Glen High School in Eerste River earlier this morning staged a silent protest after a learner was stabbed in a classroom yesterday.
The stabbing incident is only the latest in what has been described by teachers as ongoing gang-related violence.
Owen Mentoor, a teacher at the school speaking on behalf of the protesters, says they are at their wits end.
Various incidents at the school
“Yesterday’s incident involved the third teacher that was touched by the violence at the school. I was the first one and there was a case laid against me at the police after riots at school because of matric jackets. I received a six month warning because I allegedly hurt a learner’s arm and threw her to the ground.
“I am the safety officer at school and just responded to the protest. I never hurt a learner. In the second incident learners were rowdy in class and threatened a teacher. She walked out and is now seeing a psychologist. In the latest incident, two groups of mostly Grade 8 and 9s, who act like gangsters – they even talk like them and want to smokkel in the school yard – fought amongst each other.
“They chased a child into the classroom and stabbed him in front of the teacher. When we call in the department to assist us, we are disciplined for acting according to the school’s code of conduct,” says Mentoor.
‘Parents come to school to threaten us’
According to Mentoor the parents are also not of help.
“Parents come to school to threaten us. We are flabbergasted that the department always sides with the learners even if we are crying out for help. We are sick and tired. The teacher that saw the stabbing is in shock and she has a young baby at home.
“The learner who allegedly did the stabbing went home and came back with gangsters. They allegedly had a gun with them. Where we come from we deal with gangsters everyday, now we still have to deal with them at school.
“We are trained as teachers not to handle gansgters, but we are punished because we want to continue with the Annual Teaching Plan and want the examinations to go ahead. If that child is allowed in school again, we are leaving, because we cannot raise gangsters at school,” says Mentoor.
Letter from the acting principal
In a letter addressed to parents, the acting principal, Abduragmaan Jacobs, writes that they were made aware of disagreements between two groups of learners last Friday where a learner’s cap was snatched.
“Unfortunately, this disagreement led to a physical altercation during today’s (Tuesday’s) interval. During the fight, one learner was injured with a sharp object and taken to hospital for medical care.
“I visited him and can report that he is in a stable and not life-threatening condition. All parents of the learners involved were immediately contacted and asked to collect their children from school. The police was called to the school to de-escalate the situation and we have requested an increased police presence for the next few days.
“As a precautionary measure the learners involved were suspended for seven days. Upon their return we will follow the disciplinary measures outlined in the school’s code of conduct. The safety and well-being of our students and staff are our highest priority,” wrote Jacobs.
Bronagh Hamoond from the WCED says they have been made aware of various incidents at the school over the past week which is of great concern. “On Friday, a learner’s cap was taken without his permission which resulted in a fight between two groups of male learners. This happened outside of the school, after school. On Monday, there was another incident, outside of the school, in apparent retaliation to the Friday incident. Yesterday, there was another incident involving these two groups, with a learner being stabbed with a sharp object. The injured learner was taken to the hospital for medical care. His condition is stable.
“The police have been informed of the incident and are providing support to the school over the coming days in order stablise the situation. Learners have been identified and suspended. Disciplinary hearings will follow. We appeal to parents of the school community to also have conversations with their children about their behaviour and their peer affiliations. Counselling support will be made available for the school,” says Hammond.
TygerBurger is still awaiting comment from the police.
