Sans Souci 'klap teacher' will return to school
|Published
COURT BATTLE: Teacher Clarissa Venter was given a fine and a final warning COURT BATTLE: Teacher Clarissa Venter was given a fine and a final warning
The Sans Souci Girls’ High teacher who klapped a pupil in class will return to work on Tuesday, 2 April.
Western Cape Education Department (WCED) spokesperson Jessica Shelver confirmed that after a disciplinary hearing, Sans Souci’s school governing body (SGB) decided to give Clarissa Venter a fine and a final
warning.
The 34-year-old teacher, who was appointed by the SGB and not the WCED, also has to attend anger management classes.
On 5 February, the Afrikaans teacher was recorded on video having a verbal altercation with the girl over a book.
The girl shoved a desk into Venter, who took her cellphone away, and she slapped the pupil.
The mother of the 16-year-old Grade 9 girl from Gugulethu had removed her child from the school at the beginning of the month before her disciplinary hearing could start due to the “hostile environment” there.
Venter is still due to make a second appearance in court on 18 April on an assault charge brought by the pupil’s mother.
She also brought assault charges against the pupil, who appeared in court in camera last month.
The girl’s lawyers, the Chamber of Legal Students, said her mom had no confidence her hearing would be “fair or impartial”, reported Cape Times.
The girl called Sans Souci “toxic”: “It’s not a safe space for anyone to be, because if you don’t bow down to what they have to say - whether it’s right or wrong - you are then (considered) disrespectful. You are victimised, bullied and treated badly.”