Former learner speaks out about ‘horrors’ at private school in Pretoria

Cruel punishments and registration irregularities are just some of the allegations made against a private school east of Pretoria, with a former learner speaking out against the institution.

18-year-old Connor Naudé told Pretoria Rekord that he was part of a group of senior learners tasked with punishing others at Everest Academy School, at the instruction of principal Elizabeth Jacobs.

The school houses pre-school, primary and high school learners.

Insults and assault

Naudé said the alleged punishments took place over the three years he was at the school from 2018, for grades 8 to 10.

“The principal, Ms Jacobs, rarely punished the kids herself; she made senior students do this,” he told the publication.

According to Naudé, the senior learners involved would surround learners sent for punishment in something called the “circle”, swearing at and insulting them.

“There was no limit to what we could say and usually the kids ended up on the floor in tears.

“We insulted the kids by telling them they will never amount to anything and that they will end up in jail, and many other things.”

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Learners were also allegedly physically assaulted, and forced to do push-ups in the scorching sun.

“Sometimes, the kids were in tears because of the pain. When they could not do the push-ups, we kicked, punched and slapped them.

“We did this to primary school kids also, but we did not hit them as hard as we did seniors. The principal would see us do it. It happened under her instructions,” he said.

Naudé claimed learners were also forced to clean toilets as punishment.

He said he was too scared to speak up, out of fear he would not be allowed to be admitted to another school.

“Deep down, we knew that this was not right, however, the school had a lot of misfits, people that had nowhere else to go. She [Jacobs] knew this and used it against us,” he said.

“It was hard for me not to abide by her instructions.”

But after reading an article in Pretoria Rekord about the Gauteng Department of Education investigating its registration status, Naudé felt compelled to come clean.

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Registration irregularities

Parents have alleged the school is not registered for matric with the Independent Examinations Board or the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute.

The school has denied the allegations, but the department’s spokesperson Steve Mabona confirmed last month that investigations were underway.

Naudé said when he registered to attend Impaq as a Grade 11 learner, he was not accepted because Everest Academy was not registered.

“I was forced to redo Grade 10, however, I am still highly underqualified for the grade I am currently doing. The continuous struggle to fill the gaps left by the lack of adequate education is still ongoing.”

Jacobs has denied all allegations made by Naudé and others, describing them as “false and defamatory”.

“We are not desirous to litigate by way of answering to the utter false and defamatory statements by the anonymous parents, through your so-called newspaper. We will, therefore, not dignify any of your questions in your email and reserve the right to reply fully at the appropriate forum and time, should it be necessary in the future,” she said.

“Finally, your email is riddled with false and defamatory allegations of fact, improper inferences, and unsustained conclusions of fact. For this reason, we have no confidence that you will act fairly and reasonably and give a balanced account of our response in your reporting.

“No further response will be entertained,” she told Pretoria Rekord.

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Edited by Nica Richards.

This article first appeared on Caxton publication Pretoria Rekord’s website, by Sinesipho Schrieber. Read the original article here.