In the ongoing fight to keep afloat one of the last Afrikaans-language schools in the Free State, the Free State Education Department showed up with a tv-news crew to record their plan for kicking out a teacher after an alleged 'racial incident' at Wilgehof Primary School in Bloemfontein.
Volksblad journalist Christal-Lize Muller writes on Thursday 1 August 2013 that the officials who tried to hand over the teacher's order to vacate the school, were left embarrassed: the teacher was appointed by the school's control body and could not be 'dismissed'by the department of education.
In full view of the camera-crew, the plan was to name and shame the Afrikaans teacher in the full glare of the news media - by claiming that she had cursed pupils in 'racist language' earlier in the week on the school terrain.
The unidentiified teacher said she has never made any kind of racist comments and vehemently denied the claim. She has not been officially charged with anything and Volksblad therefore did not publish her name.
However that didn't stop the TV-news crew from filming her and interviewing her. She said she would take every step legally possible to ' clear her name '.
Howard Ndaba a department spokesman accused her of 'using the k-word'.
Magda Strydom, the secretary of the SA Teachers Union, said their investigation has already been launched into the allegation earlier this week.
They said that the entire allegation is 'ungrounded'. The teacher was actually intervening to stop a fight between two pupils.
She said the Department of Education has no say over any teacher who was appointed into a post by the control-body of the school. "She will continue with her duties while the control body investigates the claim further,' she said.
Paul Colditz, speaking on behalf of the Federation of control bodies (Fedsas) said the school's control body 'as far as I am aware was not as yet approached about the matter'.
"School control bodies and the department of education are in a cooperating relationship in educational matters, and the department officials do not have the right to 'suspend' a teacher before the control body has been informed beforehand,' he commented.
'This has not been done.'
The Free State Education department is adamant however - although they haven't investigated the matter as yet - they insist on 'suspending the teacher' while the investigation coordinates with Fedsas and the control body of the school.'
He denies that the department 'has any hidden agendas'. He felt it was 'his duty,' said Ndaba, 'the investigate the claims against the teacher.
And that cannot be done until she is no longer involved with the school, he added.
(He didn't say why he chose to show up at the school with a tv-news team in tow).
Two other teachers at the Afrikaans-medium school are also under attack: the headmaster Fanie Roeloffze and teacher Lenard Mac Kay both were ordered to appear before a discliplinary committee of the Free State education department.'
http://www.volksblad.com/nuus/2013-08-01-nog-n-wilgehof-leerkrag-geteiken
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