Eastern Cape school accused of racially separating classrooms

King Edward High School in Matatiele, Eastern Cape will be paid a visit by the province’s education department amid allegations that the school’s classes are separated along racial lines.

EWN reports that a probe has been appointed to investigate the matter.

“As the department, we have sat down and established a team that will go to the school to investigate the issues and take it from there because remember, we are operating on a blank slate, so we need to investigate then we can make a statement based on the investigation,” said Malibongwe Mtima, spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Department of Education.

According to TimesLive, photographs circulating have shown a Grade 1 class with 13 pupils in it, all white, and another with 27 pupils, all black. The school reportedly reserves one class in grades 1 through 3 for black pupils only.

But the chair of the school’s governing body, advocate Andrew Duminy, denied there is any racism at play, saying that the classes are divided so that pupils who “battle with English” and “need special assistance” do not get left behind. He noted that some classes at the school are racially mixed.

READ MORE: Suspended Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke teacher ‘flees town’ – report

Duminy says the school’s Afrikaans-medium classes are open to pupils of all races. He also mentioned to TimesLive that he is an Afrikaner farmer who is “excited” that his son is dating a black girl from Pondoland.

This follows the recent controversy surrounding a school in the North West, Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke, which was accused of racism after a picture showing a class that appeared to be separated along racial lines went viral.

The photo, showing a large table with only white pupils and, at the back of the class, a smaller table where the class’s black learners were sitting, caused outrage.

A teacher believed to have taken the picture has been suspended and has reportedly since left the town.

A later photo showed the same class, but this time with the children racially mixed and working happily together. This second picture divided social media, with some saying it shows that the outrage over the first picture – and the allegations of racism leveled at the school – were not warranted, and others alleging that the second picture was an engineered attempt to quell the controversy.

The school themselves released a statement saying the photo captured a “single moment”, and is not a reflection on the school’s policy regarding race. The school says it’s proud of its “integrated character”.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)

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