Two schools. Two provinces. Two racism rows. And two quite different governmental approaches. Racism-related sagas engulfing Cape Town’s Pinelands High School and Pretoria High School for Girls in recent weeks have highlighted contrasting stances from provincial education departments.
Two affluent schools have been rocked by claims of racism recently, igniting a fierce debate about whether South African education has been transformed nearly enough.
But the Western Cape education department is adamant that this was an “isolated incident” , which does not reflect “the values and ethos” of either Pinelands High or the department. The Gauteng education department did not respond to questions from Daily Maverick about whether there were other racism investigations into the province’s schools.Parents outside Pretoria High School for Girls were still reeling this week from the exposure of their school in the national media when Daily Maverick visited.
A black parent said he was not surprised by either the allegations of racism or the findings of the SGB, which found the girls not guilty of misconduct.“I was not shocked at all. It was kind of expected with the history of the school. It was bound to happen. It is kind of a recurring thing for them not to take action when it is necessary,” he said.
The full transcripts of the controversial WhatsApp group have not been released, but reports state that messages centred on white students’ grievances about being treated unfairly because of their race. Messages included the suggestion that black students were now the privileged ones because “the world is more in their favour now anyways, like, apartheid isn’t a thing any more”.
“I started tweeting about it and quickly discovered that similar things were happening at dozens of other schools. I have since had contact with over 200 parents and teachers at dozens of schools across the country who have reported numerous instances of bullying, abuse and harassment to me,” he said.
Insiders at Pinelands High School expressed distress this week that the incident was being used to paint the school as a whole in a racist light, maintaining that the “auction” was a foolish and ignorant joke among 13-year-old school friends. “You might have seen in the news recently that racism has resurfaced at schools. In light of this, we have to stop and reflect as to where we are as a Westerford community, as this also affects us daily as a school community. With this, we will have a pupil plenary with the school management team. This platform is where pupils of colour can raise any concerns and emotions as to how they feel in light of what has happened at our school, but also in the broader society,” Smith wrote.
The school also uses its admission numbers to ensure student racial diversity and to draw learners from different socioeconomic groups. A diversity committee on the SGB helps to steer its approach on matters related to race.When racial incidents have arisen in the past, it was critical that grade heads phone the relevant parents immediately to inform them of what had happened and tell them that an investigation was under way.
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