The Eastern Cape Education Department said that an employee at the Charlo Primary School had been suspended for allegedly “exchanging inappropriate gifts and messages with underage learners at the school”.
Department spokesperson, Loyiso Pulumani, said in a statement that the person was employed by the school’s governing body on a short term contract.
“The employee was immediately suspended on Thursday 26 October 2017 as a precursor to a comprehensive investigation into the matter,” said Pulumani.
“The matter was immediately brought to the attention of the parents, circuit manager, the district director and law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Pulumani said an independent investigator was sent to the school on Monday and will be part of an independent panel addressing the allegations.
“The department intends to get to the bottom of this serious allegation immediately to ensure that the matter is speedily expedited without undue disruption to the examinations and programmes of the school,” he said.
“Professional counselling services were immediately provided for all the learners and parents affected to ensure that any likely psychological residue of the incident is immediately dealt with accordingly.”
Pulumani said that the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape is committed to ensuring that “we take steps to restore normalcy in all our schools by responding quickly to high priority incidents that have the potential of disrupting the quality of teaching and learning.”
