Pupil sets teacher's hair on fire
2013-03-05 09:08
Cape Town - A young teacher at a Cape Town school says she is
too traumatised to return to work as a result of the physical and verbal abuse
she has suffered from pupils in her class.
Sharidene Meyer, 26, told Eyewitness News that a Grade 8
pupil at Crestway High School in Retreat had set her hair on fire last
Wednesday.
She said she was at the blackboard when she suddenly saw
smoke coming out of her hair.
“I was in the classroom when a boy came in with a lighter
and set my hair on fire,” the shaken Meyer said.
On previous occasions, a boy twisted her arm and another had
made sexual comments.
The history and geography teacher is the youngest teacher at
the school and said the boys targeted her because of her age.
She reported the incident and a boy was suspended. She has
also laid a complaint of assault and crimen injuria. Police are investigating.
According to the Cape Argus, she has taken leave from work,
citing depression, and has decided not to return to the school, claiming that
her complaints to the school principal fell on deaf ears.
She told the newspaper that she had wanted to teach at
Crestway to "help uplift the community".
An education official said the boy would appear before a
school disciplinary hearing and they would follow up with the school.
