Pretoria - Some parents and staff members have expressed concern about the ill-discipline of learners at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria.
In an open letter addressed to management last week, a concerned person said: “We are deeply concerned about the lack of action taken against a very specific small group of learners.
“These learners are still bullying and terrifying the rest of the girls.”
It is stated in the letter that “the school has lost at least 20 learners as a result of their actions, with a further 26 planning to leave at the end of the academic year”.
Some parents openly said in parent meetings that if discipline was not restored, especially in the boarding house, they would take their daughters out of the school.
The school’s Deanne Broughton told the Pretoria News that they were working towards transformation.
“This is a long and complex journey, but we are confident that with the participation of all concerned, current and former students, parents and teachers and the Anglican Church community, this goal will be accomplished.”
A group of learners staged a protest outside the school at the end of June against racism, which they said had been going on for decades.
They called for equality and for teachers who made racist, homophobic and xenophobic remarks towards some learners to be dealt with.
The learners at the time said “enough is enough”.
Their accusations resulted in the initial suspension of six teachers. Five have since returned to work following an investigation and subsequent report into allegations of racism, homophobia and xenophobia by advocate Sesi Baloyi SC.
She found some of the accusations had merit, but dismissed others.
The teachers who were allowed to return, however, had to first undergo counselling and mediation.
A second investigation was done into cyber misconduct by some of the pupils, who had “bullied” some pupils after they did not partake in the protest or spoke out about what they deemed to be injustices at the school.
It was recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the identified pupils, preceded by mediation and a restorative justice process.
But concerns were voiced in the recent open letter by the concerned party, that while swift action was taken against those teachers who were implicated and subsequently vindicated, the school was allowing a handful of learners to do as they wished, without any consequences.
It is said this is causing an impossible environment for the teachers and most of the pupils.
It is stated in the letter that “the balance has been disturbed and the learners and old girls and parents are all aware of that”.
The school, however, said it was following the recommendations made in the two reports on racism and cyber bullying. “Based on the two reports, the school has followed a process of mediation and racial literacy in lieu of a fully-fledged disciplinary process against learners. All disciplinary processes are suspended pending the conclusion of the mediation process,” Broughton said.
According to her, those teachers who were back following their suspensions were “proceeding well under what we all appreciate are difficult circumstances. The issues are being addressed through a range of comprehensive measures which include the formation of a transformation committee, immersion in racial literacy and mediation and long-term measures put in place under the direction of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.
Pretoria News