A Cape Town teacher will be posted at predominantly black schools for two months after calling her pupils the k-word.
|||Cape Town - A Cape Town teacher has been taught an expensive lesson for calling her pupils the k-word.
Vergenoegd Primary School teacher Charleen Damones was last week found guilty of misconduct by the Western Cape Department of Education.
She has been suspended for two months without pay.
And she will be posted at predominantly black schools to teach for two months.
Damones will also have to attend counselling sessions on how to deal with people of different races.
But one angry parent of a pupil at the school said: “It’s about time she got punished; she thought she could get away with it.
“But this punishment is just a slap on the wrist. She was supposed to have been fired, not to just be suspended without pay - and even that is only for two months.
“I don’t know what is wrong with the Western Cape’s Education department. Maybe this could be political.”
The woman said other parents have also been left angry at the racist language used in front of their kids.
The 47-year-old teacher was overheard shouting “k****r” at one of the pupils earlier this year.
But the matter was only finalised last Friday after having been brought to the department’s attention in March.
Western Cape Education Department spokesman Paddy Attwell has confirmed the teacher’s suspension.
“We can confirm that the department suspended a teacher at Vergenoegd Primary in Delft for two months without pay for referring to pupils using a derogatory term.
“The department also issued the teacher with a final written warning, following a disciplinary hearing.
“The teacher is receiving counselling on diversity and professional conduct from our Employee Wellness Programme.”
A parent who reported the matter to the Daily Voice added: “It’s now time to face the music and be with the black children [she has insulted].
“There she will learn that black people are also human beings.
“I would like everyone to know what kind of a person she is - a pure racist.
“You cannot belittle people like that. What are the other children supposed to learn from her?”
Daily Voice