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Concern over alleged school racism SAPA, News24, Johannesburg, 4 June 2014 The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation on Wednesday expressed concern over allegations of racism at the National School of Arts in Braamfontein in Johannesburg. "Schools are supposed to be at the centre of transformation, because they have the potential to inculcate the principles of non-racialism and equality within children," foundation director Neeshan Balton said in a statement. To prevent future racial incidents, teachers should be trained on issues of race and transformation, he said. The Star reported on Tuesday that a Grade 8 history teacher allegedly called black people "demons" and told her class last Thursday that the reason government was failing was because it was led by black people. Balton said the fact that the teacher taught history made the incident more concerning. "History, and the understanding and teaching thereof, is a key component of interpreting our past and the current processes of change," he said. "If a history teacher - who one would assume has sufficient knowledge of the horrors of racism and apartheid - makes such comments, then we should be gravely concerned." While political commentary and critical reflection were acceptable in academic institutions, these had to be based on rational and intellectual foundations. Balton commended a pupil at the school who reported the alleged racism to her mother. The newspaper reported that a 13-year-old girl sent an SMS to her mother saying the teacher was out of order for telling the class black people were stupid for voting for the African National Congress and that in the Western Cape people were "more than happy" with the Democratic Alliance, "thanks to white people". "This is the type of courage that is needed to combat the scourge of racism in our society," Balton said. "Young people should not accept it if a teacher expresses discriminatory views in a classroom. It should not be tolerated." He urged the education department and the school governing body to take a strong stance against the teacher, if she was found guilty of racism. The Gauteng education department said the alleged incident was being investigated, while the school said its governing body would make a statement in due course. The DA in Gauteng on Tuesday called on the SA Human Rights Commission to investigate claims of racism at the school. "The DA in Gauteng has written to the Human Rights Commission to investigate the allegation of a racist teacher," party MPL Khume Ramulifho said in a statement. - SAPA From: http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Concern-over-alleged-school-racism-20 140604 -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
