Portfolio Committee on Education condemn racism in schools

The Gauteng Provincial Legislature portfolio committee on Education has noted the racism that occurred last week in various schools in the province, the committee is  very disturbed and concerned about the continuing of incidents of racism in our schools, we condemn it strongly and with the contempt it deserve, said the Chairperson of the committee, Hon Joe Mpisi.

The racial incidents at Klipspruit Secondary where the coloured community indicated that they don’t want black principal, the kicking out of leaners with inappropriate hairstyles at Windsor House Academy and the racist remarks by the teacher at St John’s College will not be tolerated in the democratic society said the Chairperson

We call upon to all those that are engaging in the racism in our schools to refrain from that unbecoming behaviour. The constitution of this country is clear that every child must have access to quality education.

“The highest court in the land has confirmed in their judgement that Gauteng schools now belong to all children”‚ said the Chairperson.

We want to warn them that racism has no place in this democratic country, and we cannot allow racism in our schools and in our communities, we should not allow racism to threaten the process and the building blocks of education that have been achieved since 1994, We call upon the SGB’s to commit to a non-racial, equal and quality education for all children, the chairperson said.

We call upon the parents, teachers and SGB’s to work together in ensuring that all children receive quality education in each every school in the province and combat racism

The committee wants to commend the Gauteng Department of Education for their swift intervention in all incidents of racism, we call upon the department to deal with racism decisively and they must act to anyone found guilty of racism behaviour in our schools, said Chairperson