Teachers, pupils walk out over ‘racial’ school speech

File photo: African News Agency (ANA)

File photo: African News Agency (ANA)

Published Aug 15, 2018

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A tense atmosphere arose at York High School in George as pupils threatened to protest after one of them was allegedly harassed for making a speech during an assembly about racial issues, diversity and white

privilege.

Some teachers and pupils reportedly walked out in anger, and encouraged their learners to also walk out and not listen to the “nonsense” speech by a pupil identified as the school’s head girl.

The school’s principal, Francois Moll, dismissed claims that a teacher had laid a complaint about the pupil and that parents of the learners who had walked out had called the school because they felt uncomfortable with and offended by the discussions.

The Western Cape Education Department said Moll had apologised to learners for any “hurt or misunderstanding” the debate may have caused.

“A district official visited the school last week after being informed about the unhappiness stemming from a discussion on diversity by a panel of learners during an assembly.

“Unfortunately, the principal was absent from school on the day of the panel discussion,” said WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.

“After the discussion panel, learners were encouraged to participate in a question-and- answer session.

“One learner raised the issue of discipline and whether some learners were treated differently based on their race.

“The question led to further debate on the issue of race, with some learners threatening to participate in a protest the following week,” said Hammond.

The incident sparked outrage on Facebook, with several claiming that some teachers at the school were racists and that there had been other incidents before this, but never reported out of fear of reprisal.

Others praised the teachers and claimed it was the way the speech was written that led to the reported walkout.

“WCED encourages discussions on diversity. It is important that we understand and appreciate one another’s backgrounds, sets of experiences, cultural contexts and world views.

“Discussions on diversity in schools should recognise the different views of learners, and would require a facilitator/educator who can accommodate divergent views. This should be handled in a manner that is sensitive to the views of all learners,” Hammond said.

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