Picture: A Grade 9 learner, Gontse Makukumare/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
A Grade 9 learner from Kebinelang Secondary School in Manthe village, near Taung is reeling in shock after he was allegedly assaulted by a teacher, Lucia Motlalepule Gaotlhaelwe. According to Gontse Makukumare (15), who celebrated his birthday a day before, he was sitting in the classroom with other learners when the incident happened.
Gontse’s brother, Brian Makukumare said they demand justice. He said his brother cannot be left injured like that with no accountability.
“My brother said the teacher demanded her homework and he took the book out. Gaotlhaelwe was allegedly going from table-to-table checking if all learners have done their homework when she suddenly attacked my brother.
“According to him, Gaotlhaelwe accused him of letting other learners copy the homework from his notes. Gontse said, Gaotlhaelwe hit him with a duster twice on his elbow. My brother suffered a broken elbow and he was rushed to the local clinic for medical attention,” he said.
Makukumare further said, Gaotlhaelwe and the learner’s mother who is working as a General Assistant at the same school, allegedly rushed Gontse to the local clinic, where he was transferred to Taung District Hospital. He added that now his brother has an arm plaster cast.
“We all know that corporal punishment has long been abolished. So, I want to understand on what grounds the teacher continues to use it against learners as a measure of discipline.
“Most learners allege that, Gaotlhaelwe continues to mistreat them at school and nothing is done about it. Learners cannot go to school and are being abused for no apparent reasons. So, we call on the North West Department of Education to take drastic measures against the teacher,” said Makukumare.
The North West Department of Education spokesperson, Mphata Molokwane said: “The principal of Kebinelang Secondary School in Taung verified the event, in which the educator slapped the learner with a duster on the elbow. The educator and father drove the learner to the nearest clinic. The parent appears to be employed at the school as a general assistant.
“Labour Relations will file disciplinary action against the educator since, as we all know, corporal punishment is a thing of the past and no child should be subjected to it in school. At this time, the department is committed to assisting the learner through support and counselling.”
According to www.statssa.gov.za website, learners continue to be subjected to maltreatment including corporal punishment or physical violence by teachers, physical abuse by other learners or verbal abuse by either the teachers or other learners.
It says violence at schools seems to have a geographical component as nearly half (47,6%) of the children who experienced the violence were residents of Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and North West.
“In 2009, close to one in five children (18,6%) aged 5–17 years experienced some sort of violence at school which included corporal punishment or verbal abuse. This reduced to 8,2% in 2019, with just over one million out of 13 million school going children aged 5–17 years reporting that they had experienced some form of violence.
“Of those who experienced some form of violence, the majority (71%) were primary school children, with only 29,2% of secondary school learners reporting that they had experienced some form of violence. The majority of these children were aged 8–10 years, and most attended public schools.”
The Guardian 