Cape Town - The mother of a Grade 1 learner is furious after her daughter told her she was stripped naked by her teacher and verbally abused in front of her classmates.
Ursula Daniels, 41, says her six-year-old daughter who attends Grosvenor Primary School in Atlantis feels both traumatised and helpless after the principal allegedly told her to take her child from the school.
“She came home on Wednesday 23 August, and said ‘juffrou het my kaal uitgetrek en my panty uitgetrek’,” says the emotional mom.
“The teacher also told her she stinks and she’s dom and hit her with a ruler. When she told the teacher she would be telling her family, she was laughed at by the teacher and pupils."
“The teacher then said there is nothing that we could do to her. I could not believe it and went to school the next day.”
The single mother says her daughter told the principal the same thing.
“I also told the principal how since January we have been having a problem with this teacher. My child has to sit on the mat while other pupils sit at desks. When lessons are given, she has to sit in a corner and play with blocks, that is why she learns nothing."
“I also asked for her to be moved to another class and he [principal] told me he could guarantee that no other teacher would take her as they would think I would do this to them, too. He said ‘either she comes to school and sits in the office all day or she can stay at home’. She has been home ever since,” the mom explains.
Ursula says her daughter is badly traumatised by the incident.
“I feel as if I have failed my child. The slightest noise or loud voice makes her scream like hell."
“She did tell me she did not like school or the teacher, but I thought she’s just being a child,” says the mom.
Spokesperson for the MEC of Education in the Western Cape, Jessica Shelver, confirmed the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is investigating the matter and that officials met with the principal on Tuesday.
“The school is dealing with the matter in terms of the ‘abuse no more’ policy. The District Officials met with the principal yesterday and advised the principal to report the matter to Labour Relations for investigation."
“A social worker has been assigned to the learner. The principal denies asking the parent to keep the learner at home,” Shelver said.