Dad says teacher tore son’s ear, school disagrees

JOHANNESBURG: A parent of a pupil at an Ekurhuleni school is spitting fire after a teacher allegedly pinched his son’s ear so hard it was torn.

According to the parent, a teacher pinched the ears of the Grade 2 class at Sofunda Primary School and Crèche in Dawn Park near Boksburg because they were making a noise.

The parent’s seven-yearold son was injured and is now scared to go back to school.

The father said: “The worst thing is that the school didn’t tell me the child was hurt. When I picked him up on Monday, I realised his ear was bleeding, and he told me it was because the teacher had pinched him.”

Pinching pupils is considered part of corporal punishment and is therefore not allowed in the school system. The father claims it wasn’t the first time the teacher had used corporal punishment in the class.

“When the children misbehave, he always pinches them. We have complained to the school but they do nothing about it. Now my son is terrified of going back to school,” he said.

The man said that when he confronted the principal of the independent school, Zodwa Mbadu, after the recent incident, he was asked not to open a criminal case or report the matter to the district office. But the school claims the assault never happened. In fact, Mbadu claims the parent didn’t pay school fees.

She said: “The allegations are not true. It is important to put on record that he is one of the difficult parents to deal with.

“He received a letter indicating that he was owing school fees for two months, and within no time of getting this letter he went to his son’s teacher, insulting him. He then went to the principal’s office complaining that his son’s teacher punished his son,” Mbadu said.

The Gauteng Education Department said they were taking the allegations seriously, but their hands were tied when it came to dealing with the teacher as the school was independent.