Building relationships between pupils will be the focus for schools in Phoenix

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Published Jul 29, 2021

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Durban: Building relationships between pupils will be the focus for schools in Phoenix during the new term.

Schools are striving to ensure that racial tension during the recent violence does not spill into schools.

Nelson Reddy, the principal of Northmead Secondary, said 50% of pupils were from a nearby township and the remainder were from Phoenix.

"We did not know what to expect when school reopened on Monday, so I met with my staff at the school on Friday. We drafted a document that focused on social cohesion and rebuilding relationships. Each morning after assembly, teachers have been told to take an hour to speak to pupils about peace and they can raise concerns or questions."

Reddy said pupils have always maintained a good relationship.

"We have never had racial tension at the school. Our pupils have always been united. We are working to keep it that way."

Victor Chetty, the chairperson of the school governing body (SGB) at Greenbury Secondary, said through the Department of Education, the school was engaging with psychologists to counsel pupils.

"We need pupils to start talking about what happened and how they feel about it. They need to tell us about their views and concerns. We believe by speaking out, pupils can heal and we will then know how to rebuild relationships. We are also having dialogues on social cohesion."

He said the unrest was an emotional time for pupils.

"We had shopping complexes looted and destroyed. Fake news, in the form of voice notes and messages on WhatsApp, added to how people were feeling. Now our focus is to work together. We hope through our efforts, pupils will be able to change the way their parents view the unrest."

Claude Govender, the chairperson of the SGB at Olympia Primary, said the school was promoting friendship.

"We have partnered with the Phoenix Child Welfare Society and Visible Policing to have daily talks on social cohesion. During our talks, we bring in the importance of friendship. We try to reflect on what our relationships were before the violence. We don't want our pupils to be indoctrinated by what happened between parents."

Govender said they also planned to engage with parents.

"We want to get the message across to parents that they must stay away from talks about racial division because this will influence pupils' perception of the other race. In our area, none of our shops were looted. There were about four torched vehicles at the entrance of our road."

Amith Maharaj, the chairperson of the SGB at Hopeville Primary, said many children witnessed the violence.

"Children are innocent. They don't see race or know what is racism. At the school, we are currently talking to our pupils about peace and unity. We hope that through them it will be taken back home to their parents."

Kwazi Mthethwa, the spokesperson for the Department of Education in KZN, said the department was ordered to send psychologists to counsel pupils.

"During the MEC of Education's (Kwazi Mshengu) visit to schools in Phoenix, he told principals to hold sessions with pupils to discuss racism. Pupils need to be taught how bad racism was because they never experienced it in the past."

Mthethwa said through this dialogue the department wanted pupils to go home and teach their parents good things about being a multiracial school – because some of their parents never had that experience.

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Related Topics:

Civil Unrest