Johannesburg - A Pretoria school on Thursday denied claims of racial segregation and said their pupils attended integrated classrooms.
“Regarding the allegations of racial segregation at Curro Roodeplaat, we assure our stakeholders that Curro’s learners are in fact integrated across the various grades,” spokesman Dr Chris van der Merwe said in a statement
“This is done in a manner that fosters a secure learning environment in which all learners can flourish. This principle applies equally across all Curro schools.”
EyeWitness News reported on Thursday that Curro Roodeplaat Private School had been accused of assigning pupils to classes based on their race.
Van der Merwe said that Curro collectively had about 36 000 pupils in their 42 schools, and that 63 percent of these pupils were black.
“This supports and is reflective of Curro’s commitment to build schools that ensure integration amongst its learners.
“Our philosophy has always been and will continue to be to create accessible education to South Africans from all backgrounds. We strive to foster a value system that honours child friendliness, positive discipline, Christian ethos and values and creative thinking.”
According to the report, almost 30 parents at the school reportedly signed a petition demanding an explanation from the school.
In the petition, parents urged the school to act in accordance with the country's constitution, EWN reported.
Van der Merwe said the school would engage with parents on the matter
The regional manager at Curro Holdings, André Pollard, denied that the school was racially segregating its pupils.
“It is not because we would like to segregate the whites, it is just because of friends. Children are able to make friends with children of their culture,” he told the broadcaster.
Parents reportedly wanted to know why some classes were made up of only black children, while the white pupils were kept together.
Pollard told the broadcaster that the number of white pupils at the school was very small, therefore the school was trying to keep them together.
Once there were 12 or more white children, they would separate them equally into the classes, he was quoted saying.
The department of education on Thursday expressed concern over the issue and said it would send officials to the school on Friday to ascertain “what happened, how it happened, who was involved and what appropriate steps should be taken”, said Sekhonyane.
Sapa