Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
A Northern Province family is suing the provincial Department of Education after a nine-year-old pupil lost an eye following an alleged beating by a teacher.
The grade two teacher at Lebaka Primary School near Giyani, Northern Province, who allegedly assaulted Mokgadi Seale, has not been suspended and there are no disciplinary measures pending against her. This is despite assurances by Minister of Education Kader Asmal that corporal punishment will not be tolerated in schools. The rod was outlawed more than four years ago, but there are many teachers who still use it. Mokgadi’s mother, Majewela Seale, says her child will never forget her ordeal in October last year when her eye was removed during surgery in hospital.
Seale says her child’s eye was “literally hanging out” after the teacher allegedly lashed her on the face with a thick stick. The stick broke and some pieces gouged her eye and left her bleeding profusely, says Seale.
Seale says the teacher has since told her the incident was “a mistake” that happened when she punished Mokgadi and her friends for making noise in the classroom.
“How can she say that it was a mistake?” she asks. “My child has one eye now because her teacher used illegal punishment. My child has lost everything and she will never get a job. Who will want to employ a person with one eye? “Her dream of becoming a teacher has been shattered by this and I want them to pay for that, despite the fact that money will not bring her eye back. “Sometimes I can’t sleep at night when I think of how much my child is suffering. She does not play with her friends anymore, they laugh at her all the time. Sometimes she comes home crying after school because children are laughing at her.” Seale lashed out at the Department of Education and Lebaka Primary School for what she says is “no respect for my human dignity”.
She says the teacher who beat her daughter took her to the clinic herself. The teacher then sent children to her house to tell her Mokgadi had been hurt while playing with other children. “What kind of a person can do such a thing and the department responsible lets her teach?” she asks. The education department could not be reached for comment despite repeated calls to its offices. Seale said she wants education authorities to suspend the teacher because her child is still attending the same school. “How can she study with this person around? I would have loved to move my child to another school, but I can’t afford to. I just hope that the lawyers will be able to settle this matter on my behalf,” she says. Her legal representatives, TN Mogoboya Attorneys, sent a letter of demand for damages and pain caused to the Seale family to the provincial Department of Education and the teacher. They have been given 31 days to respond.