Racist school codes uncovered by NGO

Pupils of Pretoria High School for Girls picket inside the school premises while Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, met with the school management following allegations of racism at the school. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Pupils of Pretoria High School for Girls picket inside the school premises while Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, met with the school management following allegations of racism at the school. Picture: Phill Magakoe

Published Aug 31, 2016

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Cape Town - As support for black pupils at Pretoria High School for Girls continues to grow, advocacy group Equal Education says it has found deep-seated racism and other prejudices in the codes of conduct and other policies and practices at many South African schools.

The group said it was outraged following media reports of alleged discrimination at several schools, including Pretoria High School for Girls and Lawson Brown High in Port Elizabeth, where black pupils have said they have been prohibited from wearing their hair in afros.

“We have in the past intervened to assist Rastafari, foreign, and pregnant learners, all of whom were either unlawfully barred from enrolling in school, or staying in school, due to discriminatory practices.

"The root cause is institutional prejudice – schools are either ignorant of the law or prepared to disregard it.

"In too many instances, there is a lack of oversight from provincial departments of education.

"School governing bodies are able to make arbitrary rules with impunity as the education bureaucracy does not scrutinise schools’ codes of conduct as mandated.”

It called on provincial education departments to ensure all districts, principals and school governing bodies were educated on diversity and human rights.

“It must be stressed that, while discrimination and exclusion happen at affluent and impoverished schools alike, hair in particular is one aspect of a broader process whereby black learners at many former Model C schools are forced to assimilate to the dominant institutional culture.

"It is entirely unfair to force learners to sacrifice an aspect of their selfhood in order to receive a quality education.”

Western Cape Education Department spokesman Paddy Attwell said if pupils felt the stipulations on hair in the code of conduct of their school was discriminatory, they could take up the matter with the school governing body, preferably via the representative council of learners.

He said the department received complaints in this regard “from time to time”.

“District officials help by facilitating discussion, which helps to resolve the issue satisfactorily.”

He said the department had trained school governing bodies on their roles and responsibilities, including training on codes of conduct, which must reflect the values of the constitution and the law.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation commended the Pretoria Girls’ High pupils for standing up against racism.

“Earlier this year, the foundation under the umbrella of the Anti-Racism Network South Africa proposed a draft anti-racism school policy that could be implemented nationally to tackle racism in primary and secondary schools.

"We hope that the Department of Basic Education will seriously consider adopting the policy in all schools.

"It is about time that racism in the education sector is tackled head on,” said the foundation’s director, Neeshan Balton.

“Schools have the most wonderful opportunity of getting children of all races to fully understand the past and appreciate their diversity, while contributing to a more unifying national culture and identity.”

The president of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa, Dr Anthea Cereseto,said teachers should keep mind “we do not teach lesson plans or intellectual challenges, rather we teach human beings”.

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