Teacher 'punched' Grade 7 pupil

2008-11-20 09:52

Alet Rademeyer

Pretoria - A complaint has been made at a police station after a female teacher at a Centurion primary school allegedly punched a Grade 7 pupil.

The boy's mother filed a complaint at the Lyttelton police station on Wednesday. The incident happened in class on Tuesday morning.

According to the mother, the teacher apparently pulled the boy about by his arms and punched him on his chest.

This was after the teacher apparently called the boy a "holtand" (derogatory Afrikaans word indicating a useless person). He asked his friend what it meant, after which she apparently shouted that she could still hear him.

She then rushed towards him and hit him.

'Oxygen thief'

The angry mother said her son had been verbally humiliated on previous occasions by the teacher, who had called him an "oxygen thief" and "rubbish". She tried to discuss this with the principal, but he had shrugged it off.

The mother took her son to a doctor on Tuesday before he made a statement at the police station.

According to the mother, she decided to act as her son had been victimised over the past two years. "He leaves the school in two weeks and we have nothing to lose. Other parents should know what is going on."

The principal said he was aware of the woman's complaint.

"The necessary procedures would be followed to investigate the case."

The mother said the chairperson of the school's governing body had told her on Tuesday afternoon that there would not be time for a disciplinary hearing before school closed.

- Beeld