“Use of hurtful terms such as monkeys, k-word, and being told you belong at Mamelodi High”
Following Gauteng Education MEC’s visit to Pretoria High School for Girls more has transpired. Keen to establish what led to the incident at the school, the MEC’s encounter could be summarised in 6 key issues.
- Use of African languages on the school premises is not tolerated yet the other learners are allowed to express themselves in Afrikaans.
- Learners feel that they are not allowed to wear Black hairstyles, such as Afro. Specifically, the school policy limits the length of the hairstyle, and this is arbitrarily interpreted by the educators. The learners feel that educators use abusive and demeaning language when they address them regarding their hairstyles. For instance some educators tell them they look like monkeys, or have nests on their heads.
- Racial abuse and victimisation by both white educators and white learners, in particular the use of hurtful terms such as monkeys, k-word, and being told you belong at Mamelodi High and not at Pretoria Girls. In one incident a white learner told a black learner she does not need a pencil but should rather use her finger since it was black enough. Some white learners complained in a music class that they are being taught kaffir music when the teacher was trying to teach them an African folk song.
- Management and senior officials in the school deal flippantly with, or in ignore learners’ complaints about racial abuse and victimisation. For example, the learners complained that they are told to ‘get over it’ or ‘toughen up’ this is not a primary school.
- The school response was heavy-handed in calling the police and private security.
- The harassment and victimisation is not only limited to the school grounds, but at school excursions as well.
