Staff members at Noluthando School for the Deaf in Site B have been going slow since Wednesday 7 May to show their dissatisfaction with the way the school principal is treating them.
They are accusing the principal of being a dictator and bully.
Noluthando is a special school that accommodates learners who are deaf, hard of hearing as well as mild-moderately mentally challenged learners.
On Wednesday 7 May the schoolteachers embarked on a peaceful march inside school premises carrying placards chanting songs demanding the principal to resign immediately.
One of the teachers who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation said it is high time for the school principal to resign as he failed to lead them.
She said there is nothing progressive that he had done ever since he arrived at the school in 2017.
She accused him of being a dictator.
“As staff members, we are not happy with the way the principal is treating us. Ever since he arrived, we never get a rest. He is verbally and emotionally abusing us. He is using his powers to dictate,” she stated, adding that manipulative.
She stated that some of the staff members had opted to resign because of his bad behaviour.
The teacher also accused him of capturing the school governing body (SGB) members.
“Everything at the school is about him. He controls the SGB members. Sometimes he even speaks on its behalf in meetings. It is his way or highway,” she said.
She declared that the school principal has his favourites among staff members.
She said he can do whatever in his power to ensure that his cronies are comfortable.
“If he doesn’t like you, he will be in your case till you decide to resign. And once you resign, he will hire his close friends or relatives. There is a teacher that he hired in 2019 that was working with him in his previous school (Bonga Primary School in Gugulethu) and that teacher is part of the management. Some of the teachers who are close to him have their relatives who are working as education assistants even though it is not allowed by the department,” she said.
She stated that every weekday after school they will have a peaceful march inside school premises till their grievances are attended to by the department.
The provincial department of Education spokesperson Unathi Booi said the department is aware of the protest action that took place at the school on Wednesday 7 June.
However, she stated that it is untrue that teachers had previously informed the district office about their grievances.
“The principal was requested by the department to report to the district office in the interests of stability. The department has sent in a professional team to investigate which begins next week,” said Booi.
She said learning and teaching were briefly disrupted but have since resumed.