Students at Newlands’ Sans Souci Girls’ High School have come out in support of a teacher filmed slapping a girl after an altercation in class.

The video, which has well over 200 000 views on Facebook since being uploaded yesterday, starts with an argument over cellphone usage in class, before things get physical between the teacher and the student.

IOL reports that the incident occurred yesterday, with officials from the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) at the school today to investigate the matter.

Here’s the video in full, with the slap occurring around the 1:25 mark:

Yoh – that’s a solid slap sound.

It appears that the teacher is in hot water, with WCED spokesperson Jesicca Shelver saying that the department “will be taking action against the teacher once its investigation is complete”.

The students of the school, however, are backing their teacher. The South African reports that “Sans Souci pupils sang the teacher’s name and held up signs backing her ahead of their Wednesday morning assembly”:

Protest from students at #SanSouci, Rondebosch, in support of a teacher filmed hitting a learner. pic.twitter.com/l3CutmE1vc

— Tom (@WiggumCharm) February 6, 2019

They also held up a banner inside the assembly, showing support:

Shelver says that the student in the video may also face disciplinary action, and has asked that the public allow the student governing body and the WCED to investigate the incident before jumping to any conclusions.

One thing we can probably all agree on – being a teacher in this day and age can be a thankless task.

[sources:iol&southafrican]