Crawford Teacher Says Writing the K-word in Class Was a Teaching Moment, Mzansi Outraged: “R100k for Racism”

• An 82-year-old substitute teacher at Crawford International Pretoria College was fired after writing racist words on a whiteboard
• A video of the teacher writing the k-word and the n-word as a teaching point went viral on social media
• Some South Africans are still unsure about whether the teacher's actions were racist or not

PRETORIA - An 82-year-old substitute teacher at Crawford International Pretoria College has been axed after she was filmed writing racist words on a whiteboard.

The video went viral on social media, with many South Africans torn about whether or not she was being racist.

Crawford substitute teacher says writing racist words was part of her lesson

According to TimesLIVE, the teacher wrote the k-word, n-word and a bunch of other racist phrases to teach her grade 8 pupils a lesson about provocative words.

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The substitute teacher reportedly wanted pupils not to be offended by the k-word because they did not live through apartheid.

Crawford issued a statement saying that the teacher was hired a week ago to relieve a teacher who was on sick leave. The teacher was asked to leave after the video started making rounds online.

Department of Education condemns teacher who wrote racist words in class

In a statement seen by Briefly News, the Gauteng Department of Education’s Spokesperson, Steve Mabona, says the department visited the school on Tuesday, 25 July.

Maboona said Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane supports the school's decision to dismiss the teacher and has reported her to South African Council for Educators (SACE) for necessary investigation and deregistration so that she is not allowed to teach children anymore.

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The MEC added that her actions were unacceptable and had racist undertones. The department was pleased to learn that the school has offered counselling services to learners affected by the teacher's actions.

South Africans

@7510bossi said:

"The level of racism in these white private schools will shock you. Crawford at R100k for racism."

@meravedout said:

"Is she allowed to just write whatever she wants in a class of grade 8 students?! Isn't there some kind of ethically approved syllabus that she should follow. Even as a substitute that seems so reckless."

@obie_baby said:

"I'm not sure I understand the racism she did."

@Robhare7 said:

"How will we teach children about racism or insulting?"

@MGILIJACCC said:

"How racism is going to be fought when we don't know or don't have evidence of racism going on in our schools?"

Teacher suspended from Hoërskool Jan Viljoen, learners return to school After racist incident

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Briefly News previously reported that a racist incident caused Hoërskool Jan Viljoen to make headlines, but later it was revealed that there were also sexual abuse allegations.

Following the incident, the Gauteng MEC for Education, Panyaza Lesufi, visited the school to meet with learners, parents and staff. During his visit, students informed Lesufi of a teacher who had been harassing and abusing specific learners.

The school's governing body met and voted about handling the situation. They decided that the teacher should be suspended while the case is investigated, News24 reports. The teacher's identity remains unknown.

Source: Briefly News