Cape Town – A Kuils River primary school has come under fire for allowing a pupil who called his peers by the "K-word" to be a prefect and student leader.
In September last year, the Grade 6 pupil at Laerskool Mikro was disciplined and asked to apologise following his remarks. But the following month, parents said, the school governing body (SGB) had allowed him to be elected a prefect for this year.
A group of irate parents have since challenged the school on the decision.
They met with school officials, including the principal, who explained that the school constitution did not state that disciplinary action disqualified any pupil from becoming a prefect.
Parent Lauren Bernardo said she and other parents had met with SGB representatives, who had decided to suspend the boy from any leadership role until the third term and then reinstate his privileges.
“We are not happy with this outcome as we do not believe the consequence matches the weight of the boy’s action.
"We do not believe racist behaviour should be rewarded and we are disappointed by the school and the governing body’s lack of co-operation,” said Bernado.
She said it was felt that the pupil was being undeservedly protected to secure him a place in a well-known high school.
“We as parents are concerned that the governing body did not act in the best interests of the school by allowing the boy to keep his leadership title after suspension and we also are worried that the school is not equipped or willing to deal with what could be a larger problem.
“We need to open the conversation about race and prejudice within the school,” Bernardo said.
The parents have called for the school to undergo some kind of school-wide intervention where children are taught about tolerance, equality, respect and kindness.
Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department had not been informed of the racist incident last year.
“The district was made aware of it this week. They have requested feedback from the school,” she said.
On behalf of the Laerskool Mikro governing body, Adri Conradie said the boy had been elected to the student council by Grade 6 pupils and teachers, not by themselves.
“The school dealt with the matter in 2018 and the governing body was not involved at the time.
‘‘The boy’s parents were informed immediately after the incident took place, he apologised to a group of affected learners, received a warning from the headmaster and the incident was recorded on his file,” Conradie said.
The student council election process was open and parents were invited to discuss the results with the headmaster if they had any concerns about the election process, Conradie said.
“No concerns about the election process were raised after the election, which took place in October 2018,” he added.
“In terms of further action, the school intends to use this incident as an opportunity to create awareness and training among all learners, to the extent that it is required.
‘‘The school believes it (needs) to have an inclusive character and this has been the first reported incidence of its nature ever.”