Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has condemned the action of two parents who stormed into a Durban school and demanded that their 19-year-old son be re-admitted to the school despite confirming with the school last year that they were transferring him to another school.
Department spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi, was commenting after parents at New West Secondary School staged a demonstration outside the school on Thursday demanding that the teen be removed from the school.
Parents were up in arms after the teen, who has allegedly been arrested for a hijacking, was allowed back onto school property. They further claim that the same pupil robbed a fellow pupil, at knife point, last year.
According to New West Secondary School Governing Body chairperson, Viresh Bana, on Monday the pupil’s mother and stepfather brought him to school and demanded that he be enrolled.
“Last year, this same pupil was accused of robbing a Grade 8 boy at the school at knifepoint. He took the boy’s money. We called for a hearing and before we could go ahead with the hearing, the boy’s mother said that she will take him out of the school. She told the principal that she will be sending him to a school in Port Shepstone,” Bana said.
He said the necessary paperwork was signed and as per their understanding the pupil was no longer registered at their school.
Bana said on Monday, they were shocked to hear that the boy and his parents had returned to the school.
He said when the principal explained that the boy was no longer a pupil at the school and his parents needed to re-register him, the boy’s stepfather became aggressive.
“He started to swear at the principal and demanded that the boy be sent back to Grade 11. He then took the boy to a Grade 11 class and told him to sit in the class,” Bana said.
He said they were concerned for the safety of both teachers and pupils at the school.
“He has already shown violent behaviour in the past and has a criminal case pending against him. Who is now going to discipline this pupil, should he need it. It will also set a negative precedent for other pupils if this boy is not correctly disciplined, if required,” Bana said.
Newlands East SAPS Community Policing Forum chairperson, Vishal Dooki, said they called a meeting as they feared for the safety of other pupils and teachers at the school.
Dooki said they have called for another meeting on Friday at the school hall at 7pm, where parents have agreed to sign a petition to have the boy removed from the school.
The petition will then be handed over to the Department of Education.
National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA provincial CEO, Thirona Moodley, said they were concerned that the pupil was old enough to attend a TVET college. She said they were concerned that the school was being forced to accept the pupil who was no longer registered at the school and who had previously lashed out at other teachers at the school.
“He is old enough to be charged for these offences. We can never support a move that puts our teachers and pupils’ lives in danger. He also falls out of the school’s zone and should be sent to a school closer to where he lives,” she said.
Mahlambi, condemned the parents’ actions. He said they will not tolerate such behaviour from both parents and pupils.
“We do not want to waste our time with pupils with bad behaviour and criminal ways. We are decisive in how we handle pupils who bully our teachers and pose a threat to other pupils. If parents want to deal with their son, there are district offices that can facilitate in having him placed at another learning facility. We cannot be seen to be condoning such behaviour,” he said.