Cameras in school: teachers who walked out are back
Parents of learners at Umkhumbane Secondary School block the school, called for the teachers to be fired
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Parents protested outside the school at the reinstatement of 22 teachers who walked out in March. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko
Parents of learners at Umkhumbane Secondary School in Chesterville, outside Durban, have called on the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education to fire 22 teachers who walked out when CCTV cameras were installed at the school.
The decision to install the cameras was taken by the principal, the School Governing Body (SGB), and parents after several meetings about safety.
When some teachers objected, the provincial department of education instructed the school to remove the cameras. The SGB, with the support of the National Teachers Union (NATU), challenged this in court, and on 31 March the Pietermaritzburg High court ruled in their favour, allowing the cameras to remain. The 22 teachers then decided not to return to work and called for principal Ntokozo Ngobese to be suspended or moved.
The SGB then appointed temporary teachers.
On 3 March, the department suspended Ngobese, for reasons which the department said were not linked to the camera issue.
When the teachers and Ngobese all returned to the school on Monday, parents welcomed the return of the principal but called on the department to remove the teachers. Angry parents blocked the entrance to the school with bins and piles of rubbish while members of the SGB, teachers and representatives of the department of education held a four-hour meeting.
“They left our children without education, and now they are just brought back like nothing happened,” said parent Londeka Ngobese. She said parents wanted accountability instead of reinstatement.
Deputy SGB chairperson Babalo Maqeke said if the department did not remove the teachers the SGB would consider going to court.
Department of education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said due process would be followed in the case of the teachers but in the meantime, they had been brought back to teach.
“Every effort will now be directed towards recovering lost teaching time, strengthening learner support programmes, and ensuring that the school continues to fulfil its mandate of providing quality education to all learners,” said Mahlambi.
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