Johannesburg - The scuffle begins inside the classroom where a teacher and a pupil are wrestling over a school bag. Both are pulling on the backpack, when the teenager retaliates and kicks his teacher.
The Grade 8 pupil from Glenvista High School then grabs a chair and tries to hurl it at his teacher, who is still pulling the bag and heading towards the door.
As they reach the door, the boy reaches for the broom that is propped up in the corner and hits his teacher with it.
Outside, the pupil lets go of the bag and the teacher walks away with it.`
The pupil continues to assault his teacher with the broom, swearing at him.
The teacher continues to walk.
The incident, which happened on Wednesday, was captured on a cellphone by another pupil.
In the background, the pupils can be heard laughing throughout and encouraging the boy to continue attacking the teacher. “F*** him up! Go get him, go get him… ”
At some point, after throwing the broom at the teacher, the pupil recording the footage picks it up and instructs that it be given back to the attacker.
Another teacher, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity about the pupil, said: “He’s been a problem child but nothing like this… In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen anything like this.”
The Gauteng Department of Education condemned the incident.
The department’s spokesman, Gershwin Chuenyane, said a team of officials had been dispatched to the school “to ensure that immediate action is taken to suspend the learner, provide counselling to the educator and begin disciplinary process”.
“The department commends the educator for displaying his professionalism by remaining calm and not retaliating.”
He said the pupil would remain on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Star