Alexandra Police Station and education stakeholders quelled a protest which could have disrupted teaching and learning in local schools.
This according to police spokesperson Captain Stephen Malatji. “A call at about 8.15am on Monday (26 August) alerted us to members of a student movement who were going from school to school trying to disrupt lessons and asking pupils to take to the streets in protest against alleged corporal punishment.”
This he said was in reaction to a video that went viral about learners seen sprawled on the ground at an unidentified school as punishment.
Malatji said the police talked to the schools’ management teams and an agreement was made to lock the gates and not allow the intruders to come in. “The instigators started at East Bank High School where apparently a majority of pupils resisted the move and dismissed them.
“That’s when they decided to try at other schools.
“They eventually dispersed after an address by representatives of the Department of Education, police, school governing bodies and the teachers.”
Malatji said no injuries were reported except for the damage to a gate at Realogile Secondary School when the instigators tried to force it open.
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