Pretoria - The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has launched an investigation into the alleged racial conduct of a teacher at Crawford College International, Pretoria.
The intervention comes after the release of a video of a substitute Grade 8 English teacher writing racist terms on a whiteboard during a lesson.
In the video, learners can be heard complaining about the conduct of the teacher, which prompted the Chapter 9 institution to schedule a meeting with the school last week.
A joint media statement by the two parties involved states that the commission was advised that the teacher was a substitute who had been given a temporary role the previous week, but was immediately fired following the release of the video.
The statement added: “The school immediately condemned the teacher’s conduct and offered an unreserved apology to learners, parents, the greater schooling community and the rest of the country for the hurt caused.
“The school also immediately worked together with the Gauteng Department of Education and MEC Matome Chiloane, to address the matter with the department, releasing a statement detailing actions taken and the co-operation provided by the school, and an investigation has also been undertaken by the South African Council of Educators (SACE).”
While waiting for the investigation report from the SACE, some of the solutions to the matter involved the SAHRC offering assistance through its advocacy mandate to conduct workshops at the school on equality, in addition to the school’s existing diversity inclusion programme.
The commission will also provide the college with access to its teaching toolkits for use within the school’s diversity programme and offer mediation and negotiation services to its immediate stakeholders.
Meanwhile, college principal, Cheryl Naidoo, vowed to take legal action against the 82-year-old teacher, who allegedly used the k and n-words during the lesson.
The teacher allegedly told learners not to be offended as they were not affected by apartheid.
Naidoo said the school had already reported the matter to the SACE.
Naidoo said: “Crawford International College Pretoria deeply regrets the unacceptable racist incident during a Grade 8 English lesson on July 24, when a substitute teacher wrote offensive, racist terms on the whiteboard. At Crawford International Pretoria College, we denounce any form of prejudice or discrimination, and we are shocked and dismayed over this matter.
“We deeply regret the incident, and the offence and hurt caused to our students, parents, our community and the country as a whole. We have been engaging with our students who experienced this unfortunate incident and acknowledge the hurt this has caused. Counselling is being offered to students.”
Pretoria News