A grade 1 teacher from the Orchards Primary School just outside Centurion in Gauteng has been suspended by the schools governing body after pupils claim she called them k*****s. She now also faces a disciplinary hearing next week. Apparently she also called them “black monkeys”. But, has she been levelled with false accusations?

The teacher, who decided to keep her anonymity, had a nervous breakdown this past Friday as a result of the accusations. That day also happened to be her 69^th birthday.

This is her side of the story:

I was doing duty in the waiting area on Friday March 4, between 12.45pm and 1.15pm. I was the only teacher on duty looking after approximately 200 children in that area. Some bigger children were playing among the small ones – they were playing cricket and rugby.

I told them not to play there because they might hurt the smaller kids with their balls … One child told me that ‘Sir’ told them to come and play here. I said that they should go and play elsewhere … A group shouted back at me in their home language – I did not understand what they were saying.

I told them they should not shout back at me. I said they are a bunch of back-chatters. They started running away. The one particular child kept on shouting at me in his home language.

[A week later] I was extremely shocked to be called into a meeting with the parents of the boy who accused me of calling him a “k*****”.

The teacher was obviously also quite surprised to learn that these accusations found themselves into the media. This, after being a teacher for almost 50 years and never having once been accused of anything of the sort.

She concludes:

I also want to state that at my advanced age it would be very foolish to jeopardise my career.I intend to fight this as much as the other party to show that the truth will prevail.

Well, we are certainly not taking any sides on this one – we’d rather sit on the fence and watch it play out.

[Source: TimesLive]