Parents of pupils attending a day-care centre in Phoenix embarked on a peaceful protest at the school’s gate yesterday, calling for the dismissal of the school’s principal and the teacher implicated in the alleged assault of a 2-year-old.
Preshalin Pillay, a parent, said that he was concerned when his child came home with bruises last week. “His forehead was swollen, and he had lacerations on his nose. The teacher said he had hurt himself. She said she didn’t know how he got hurt,” he said.
He said that he left but was unsatisfied with her answer and called them again to ask to see the CCTV footage to see how the child fell. “They were very reluctant and said they needed permission from the principal for me to view the footage.”
He stated that the footage reportedly showed the teacher kicking his child and causing him to fall down on his face.
Pillay said that his child has previously said he did not want to go to school. “I would notice how he did not want to go to school every morning as he would cry when I dropped him off, but I would force him because I thought he was just being a child.”
Pillay has said that he has opened an assault case against the teacher with the police. KZN police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that the police are investigating an assault case.
“A case of assault was opened for investigation by Phoenix SAPS after a 2-year-old child was assaulted while at a crèche in Phoenix on September 23. The docket has been transferred to the FCS (Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences) Unit for further investigation,” said Gwala.
Spokesperson for the Department of Social Development in KZN, Mhlabunzima Memela said that a team of social workers was dispatched to investigate the case.
“While we are still waiting for the report to come back, we would like to know if the procedures were followed when hiring the teachers. As the department, we have the responsibility to ensure that ECD (early childhood development) centres are a safe environment for children,” he said.
Memela said that the social workers would also be meeting with the parents of the child to evaluate the well-being of the child following the incident.
The teacher has since been dismissed.
Sources: MSN, IOL
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