Teacher lies about homeschooling

 Gugulethu mother, Portia Mdletye, says that her son has been deprived of his education since March 2020. The teacher believes that the 5-year-old boy is a “high risk” for contracting the virus and fears that he might infect other learners. 

Portia said that the teacher told her that “all grade R pupils would continue to learn from home for the rest of the year”. However, recently she found out that this was not the case and her son was the only one being turned away. 

“My child developed flu symptoms in March in the week schools were scheduled to close due to lockdown. I took him to the pharmacy and received medication for that.” said Portia. 

“I did an unannounced visit to see for myself and met the teacher outside. She was rude to me. When I followed her into the classroom, it was indeed full of pupils.” The mother claims that her son is always neat and does not always have a bloody nose. 

She said she made a complaint at the Maitland and Ndabeni Western Cape education department district offices, stating that she was asked to home-school her son without the home-schooling form, as per government directives, and regarding her son’s health.

By Danielle Mentoor