Update
GEORGE NEWS - A Parkdene Secondary School teacher left the school with a bloodied face to seek medical care on Monday morning, 29 October, after she was punched in the face, allegedly by a 15-year-old Grade 8 learner. According to information the George Herald received, the incident occurred after the teacher asked the learner to remove his cap.
Monday's incident was preceded by two unrelated incidents of bad or violent learner behaviour last week. On Thursday 25 October, during an anti-bullying campaign under the auspices of Sean and Chantel Norris's local South African Sports League, two learners threw water in the face of "Mr Wrestling", who was scheduled to take part in the campaign.
On Friday afternoon a fight between learners armed with sharp objects took place outside the school.
An eye-witness said the learners were armed with homemade weapons.
In the light of these incidents, Parkdene teachers gathered at the entrance of the school before the start of the school day yesterday morning, 31 October, dressed up in black and red to voice their concern about the lack of discipline at the school and violence towards school teachers, not only at Parkdene but across the country.
Assault incident
Bronagh Hammond, spokesperson for the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said that the educator allegedly did not react to the learner.
"The school informed the learner's parents and called the police. The principal is in the process of instituting disciplinary steps against the learner." At the time of going to print, comment has not been received from the office of the MEC for Education or the local police.
Dressed in black and red, the staff of Parkdene Secondary School made a statement yesterday morning.
Wrestler 'bullied'
The two learners who threw water at "Mr Wrestling" of the local South African Sports League were removed by teachers. According to information, "Mr Wrestling" wanted to talk to the learner but couldn't.
According to information the paper received, one of these learners is known for his aggressive behaviour and has been involved in incidents before, with his fellow learners being afraid of him.
Read a previous article here: Leerder rand onderwyseres aan
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