Johannesburg - As Child Protection Week draws to a close, there isn't much to celebrate for a Grade 4 learner at an independent school in Primrose.
The little girl now has to start afresh at a new school after she was allegedly sexually assaulted and bullied by a classmate and also bullied by an older Grade 6 learner.
Allegations of verbal and physical abuse were also levelled against the principal and a teacher at the school. The young girl is now suffering from PTSD, according to a doctor’s note, and became ill at school when confronted with her alleged attacker.
Yesterday, the parents of the little girl, whom they adopted, were called to attend a disciplinary hearing for the boy accused of the assault and bullying. Upon arrival at the school, the parents were introduced to the chairperson of the School Governing Board, which they didn’t know existed, and found out that he is, in fact, the father of the Grade 6 learner also accused of bullying their daughter.
The aim of the hearing was to discuss the action to be taken against the boy accused of the assault and bullying and to determine if he was to return to the school after being suspended for five days.
The parents said there were no representatives from the Gauteng Department of Education (GPEDU) present at the hearing. The identity of the parents of the little girl is known to Independent Newspapers, but is withheld to protect her.
The parents claim they were told on February 10 that their daughter was allegedly bullied and that no intervention, discipline or action had been taken by the principal.
“Our daughter was assaulted by a boy during school hours. He hit her with a fist and she immediately reported it to a teacher. My wife and I went away for the weekend and my child reported it to my sister-in-law. We obviously did not have a good weekend, after hearing about the incident.
“We called a meeting with the principal and in that meeting we were told by the principal that she was not aware of the incident. We told the principal that she has not done enough to protect our child and many others against bullies, by not adhering to her very own code of conduct,” the father said.
The parents said when they saw the boy with his mother they learnt that she too was unaware of the incident and claimed that the principal of Totus Tuus School, Petro van den Berg, had not informed her.
“The mother made her son apologise. That was it, an apology. Our child has been verbally attacked by another girl, who is in Grade 6. When I fetched my child from school, she told me that she was again hit with an open hand behind her head by a girl in her class. I became very upset and asked her to call the girl that verbally insulted her for a period of time now.
“Please bear in mind that my child is black and she has been adopted. I sat in my car and warned the Grade 6 girl to stop messing with my child. I was not rude towards her, but very stern in my voice. The principal called me and requested a meeting with all the parents involved. Really, you expect me to sit in a meeting with the parents of learners who assault and insult my child,” the father fumed.
When Independent Newspapers contacted the school last week, Van den Berg said: “We are busy with disciplinary procedures and making arrangements to support both learners.”
The parents of the young learner claim they had not heard from the principal or the school until Thursday when they were asked to attend the disciplinary hearing. At yesterday’s hearing, the chairperson of the SGB allegedly asked the boy at the centre of the drama and a witness to demonstrate the alleged sexual assault, to which the parents objected.
Independent Newspapers is also in possession of correspondence between the parents of the young girl and officials from GPEDU who recommended that the only remedy was to remove the young girl from the school. That recommendation was made by the GPEDU officials before they started their investigation.
GPEDU spokesperson, Steve Mabona said the Department visited Totus Tuus to investigate the allegations of physical and sexual abuse against the learner.
“Indeed, we are concerned and as such, investigations are under way. The parents of the affected learner opened a case with the police and the disciplinary process is under way accordingly.
“The report at our disposal reveals that the allegations of physical abuse by the teacher were unfounded, and the footage is available should it be necessary. Our psycho-social support team was deployed to provide necessary support to both the learners,” he said.
Mabona added that the department strongly condemns any acts of misconduct by anyone, which seeks to undermine the dignity of our learning institutions.
‘“Accordingly, learners are urged to refrain from acts of misconduct in schools; and implore parents to assist the Department in instilling learner discipline in and outside the school environment,” Mabona concluded.
Saps did not provide an update on the investigation at the time of going to print.