DURBAN - The group of boys at George Campbell School of Technology responsible for the recent riots at the school are allegedly failing the year and have resorted to wreaking havoc.
This is according to one pupil who released a voice note via social media at the weekend.
In the 1min 56sec voice note, the pupil alleged the group planned to cause protests at the school to force the Department of Education to pass them.
Last Thursday, pupils blocked off the exits at the school. They claimed black pupils were being called “monkeys” by two white teachers. Police rushed to the school to disperse the group to allow teachers to leave. On Friday, police were again called.
“The teachers think it is fine to call us monkeys. They tell us that is how boys become men,” a pupil said.
Another claimed when they addressed their concerns with the school’s governing body, these were ignored.
According to the voice note, the pupil claimed the group was inciting pupils for their own gain.
WARNING GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
“These ous (sic) are failing matric. If this goes on long enough, they get to pass matric. Well, the Department of Education will pass them because of stuff they have been involved in and stuff like that. They get to pass matric while causing this whole uproar that they always planned to cause, but that we have only realised a couple of months ago,” the pupil claimed.
Explaining the concept of “resulting”, department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said they would consider “resulting” a pupil if they were unable to complete their exams because of circumstances beyond their control. He said a protest was a planned action.
Letter
Mthethwa said the department would write a letter to the office in that school’s district and the pupil’s previous results would be taken into consideration.
“If that pupil has achieved good results in the previous terms, then a decision to result the pupil would be taken. So if that is the plan, they are not going to succeed,” he said.
Meanwhile, more voice messages are encouraging pupils to continue protesting.
Speaking to the Daily News, a George Campbell pupil said he did not agree with pupils taking matters into their own hands.
“It is not right what they are doing and they do not make sense because they’re saying there will not be any teaching until their demands are met. What are these demands?”.
Mthethwa said: “It was decided that the two teachers involved be suspended pending an investigation. One is alleged to have called the boys monkeys and the other reportedly assaulted a pupil.”