Durban - A DURBAN pupil was awarded his high school’s sportsmanship award shortly after being caught using the K-word on fellow black pupils in the school corridors last term.
Although the school says it had taken action to discipline the pupil by suspending him for the duration of the trial exams, some parents at the school felt that he should have not been given the award during a function held last week.
The Daily News received complaints from unhappy parents who believe the school was sending the wrong message to other would-be offenders of the school code of conduct when it gave the pupil the award.
“What the school is basically saying is that this kind of behaviour can be forgiven and forgotten. By giving him the award, the school is saying that he is a good example. I believe good sportsmanship goes
hand-in-hand with good behaviour. Using the K-word is one of the most serious hate-speech offences that this country is dealing with. I do not think we should be condoning it at school,” one parent said.
Another parent said it was not known if the pupil had learnt his lesson.
“This incident on its own is an indication of bad character that should have been considered by the school,” said the parent.
But the school principal said they had taken action against the pupil and had reported the incident to the Education Department.
“The department was immediately
contacted and we were advised to deal with the matter as per our Code of Conduct.
“The young man in question was severely dealt with, according to the school’s code of conduct.
“He was immediately suspended while the accusation was investigated and isolated for the entire duration of the matric trial examinations,” the principal said.
She added that all parties involved received counselling and the pupil had apologised to the aggrieved pupils, who unreservedly accepted his apology.
She said the sports awards were handed out on the basis of a points system, which forms part of the awards criteria.
She said the pupil was in the first teams for five sports codes, was many points ahead of the other candidates, and his award was well accepted by his peers.
The principal said her school was one of the first high schools to accept
transformation and “we are proud of our multiculturalism and do not condone any form of disrespect to culture or gender”.
The vice chairperson of the School Governing Body, said they fully supported the school.
She said the school dealt with the matter satisfactorily in accordance with its
disciplinary procedure and that the pupil had received the maximum sanction.
KZN Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the school had disciplined the pupil appropriately.
“The school made sure the pupil was punished for the offence and was put through the corrective programme.
He cannot thereafter be stripped of his rights and the things he worked hard for, such as this sports award. After all, he served his sanction. Denying him of the award would be unfair because the award was not part of the punishment,” he said.
Vee Gani, spokesperson for the KZN Parents Association, said he understood the concern about what message the school sent by awarding the pupil.
He said while he would not celebrate a pupil who has race issues, if the pupil excelled at sport, he deserved the award.
Another point to consider is that he was disciplined and had apologised, said Gani, adding the SGB should do some introspection on how it had handled the issue.
“Using the K-word has far-reaching
consequences; it is a violation of human rights,” he said.
Human Rights Commission legal officer Pavershree Padayachee said equality-related human rights violations were prevalent in KwaZulu-Natal and nationally.
She said the Bill of Rights applies to everyone and it was irrelevant whether the violation occurred within a school
environment and whether the perpetrator was a minor.