Furious parents of learners from Arena Park Secondary are threatening to stage a protest outside the school, demanding for the removal of an educator who was previously driven out of Grosvenor Girls’ High School by allegations of sexual harassment.
According to school governing body (SGB) chairperson of Arena Park Secondary School, Bilal Khan, the educator has been employed at the school since May this year and a whistle-blower alerted them to the appointment. Since the news of the educator’s employment at the school surfaced, learners and parents have been engaging on social media and a WhatsApp group was created to with the common purpose of removing the educator from the school. Khan said several attempts to obtain clarity as to how and why the educator was able to obtain a job at the school, given the circumstances around his previous dismissal, could not be achieved as there was no feedback provided by the school or representatives from the Department of Education (DoE). “We have been engaging with members of the DoE since last Thursday. Since the information was leaked to us about the educator and his previous misconduct, there were also anonymous calls from people in the education sector who are claiming that positions in schools are being sold for a sum of R60 000 and we were told to get authorities to investigate this,” he said.
Battling to calm irate parents whose validated concerns related to their children s emotional well-being, Khan said he is inundated with calls and messages from parents who want to physically remove the educator if their concerns are not addressed. “As the SGB, our main concern is the safety of the learners. We cannot understand why the issue is not receiving the urgent attention it requires. After we were notified of the educator, we researched the incident and allegations and found the news bulletins from July 2019, indicating that the educator was accused of manhandling female learners, and was even accused of touching the breasts of girls in the school. We followed due protocols, notified authorities from the DoE and are awaiting feedback,” he said.
Khan said there were understandable concerns relating to the fact that the educator was still at school and teaching children last Friday and on Monday following the meeting with the acting principal of the school. “I cannot understand how the DoE can even allow him to practise teaching after what previously happened. This is the reason why children are scared to speak up, because no one wants to stand with them or believe them. The main concern is our children and if they are not comfortable having this man around them, he needs to be removed. Our kids need to be in a safe haven when they are at schools not being afraid of what may happen if they are walking alone in a place that is like a second home to them. Parents should make sure their children stay in groups at all times. Ensure they use the buddy system. And teaching them self-defence from a young age is a must in this day and age,” said one parent. Attempts were made to reach the school principal and the Department of Education for comment but none were forthcoming at the time of going to print.
