Outraged parents want stern action taken against a KwaZulu-Natal teacher who allegedly body-shamed a primary school pupil.
“Your boobs are sagging. You look like you have three children. You won’t even finish matric. You will not amount to anything!”
These were the words allegedly uttered by a female teacher to a grade 7 pupil in the presence of other children at Chief Lokothwayo Primary School in Dassenhoek, near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal, on Monday.
The teacher, who has since been placed on leave, was allegedly irate after she was told by one of the pupils at the school that some children were allegedly body-shaming her, saying her body was “tough”.
The13-year-old pupil, who later bore the teacher’s wrath, was allegedly among them.
A source close to the school told Sunday World that the teacher approached the pupil in the presence of others and allegedly body-shamed and disparaged her, adding that she would not even finish her schooling.
The informant added that the teacher allegedly told the teenager that while she, as 33-year-old mother of two, looked great, she could not say the same for the girl.
“She told the girl that her breasts were hanging, and that she would pass for a mother of at least three children. She said to the girl that she has no future and won’t even finish school.”
The girl’s parents and a group of residents went to the school the next day to call for her sacking and for her name to be struck off the teachers’ roll.
The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed the incident and said a teacher at Chief Lokothwayo Primary School is on leave after parents and community members demanded her axing.
Nomarashiya Caluza, the provincial secretary of Sadtu in KwaZulu-Natal, said she condemned the way the parents and the community dealt with the matter, saying the teacher was not afforded a chance to give her side of the story.
“The branch leadership of Sadtu is dealing with the matter. The teacher was responding to body-shaming by the learner, and I think she went to extremes,” she said. “The matter was then reported.”
Caluza said it was, however, unfortunate that the teacher was not given an opportunity to present her version to the parents, teachers, the school governing body and the community, so that they could understand the circumstances under which the incident happened.
Caluza said while she was against the behaviour of the teacher, whom she said failed to control her emotions, she added that the conduct of the pupil was also unacceptable.
“The context of these cases is important. We have a child who insulted a teacher by body-shaming her. It was important that this matter was discussed so that parents are also able to reprimand the child,” she said.
Caluza said she was concerned about the message being sent by parents and the community.
She said the schoolchildren would be emboldened to be disrespectful towards teachers because teachers can be removed from school at the demand of parents and community members.
“That is how the deterioration in discipline at schools starts. Children will think they can do what they want because the teacher will be removed. But the conduct of the children is not addressed,” Caluza said.
“The teacher is currently at home but the child is at school and may do this to other teachers,” she said.
The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) provincial coordinator in KwaZulu-Natal, Ndumiso Tsotetsi condemned the teacher’s comments and also called on parents to instil values of respect in their children. He said they will be visiting the school next week.
“Teachers must be able to protect children at school because they are like parents to those children at school. Speech like this is harmful to learners. Some pupils end up killing themselves because of the pressure they exposed to in school. Therefore, abusive words must end in schools and the Department of Education must intervene so that no other teacher can speak to a pupil in this way, especially in front of others,” he said.
Provincial education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said: “The circuit manager is attending to the issue to verify. We need our educators to always uphold the professional ethics.”
