CASES of inappropriate teacher-pupil relationships are said to be sporadic in schools across the country.
This was a reaction by members of the public to reports that four teachers of Sikhunyana High were removed from the school following allegations that they forged and maintained sexual relations with learners. The educators, two of whom are male while one is a female, were removed from the school, which is located at Nkambeni on Monday.
One of the male teachers is alleged to have impregnated and married his former pupil. It is alleged that the relationship started when the girl was still a learner. Impeccable sources said the female teacher who was also accused of maintaining a relationship with a 16-year-old boy is about 50 years old.
In her case, the sources said colleagues of the 16-year-old boy reported the inappropriate relationship, which they said put the boy at an advantage in that the 50-year-old teacher allegedly wrote tests for him.
“The children said when they wrote tests, the boy would also write but not hand in the same scrip. Instead, the one written by the teacher was marked and it usually carried higher scores,” related the source.
After the matter was reported to the now late headteacher Justice Makhanya, insiders said the boy was tested on the same content he was supposed to have known, but he failed.
“When he was questioned he confessed that the female teacher usually wrote tests for him,” alleged a source. The public said the Sikhunyana case was not isolated as there were educators in other schools who slept with learners, which is unethical and against the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act.
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Lubombo Regional Education Officer (REO) Richard Dlamini had previously admitted that cases of teacher-learner relationships were reported to the Career Guidance and Counselling Unit under his office.
However, when asked about the exact number of cases reported since the beginning of the year, he said he did not have the exact statics.
Instead, he said the cases were reported at irregular intervals.
Dlamini said the ministry of education and training frowned upon such inappropriate relations between teachers and learners. The REO said this after two male teachers from Shewula High School were reported, one for sleeping with a 15-year-old Form II pupil and another for pursuing a 16-year-old Form III learner. The teacher involved with the Form II pupil had allegedly promised her that he would make her pass.
Meanwhile, Manzini REO Sizwe Kunene also confirmed that reports of inappropriate relationships between learners and teachers were also made to his office. However, he explained that it was sometimes hard to investigate the allegations, especially when the pupil changes tune and said she or he had pursued the teacher.
“We have had a case where the learner was 23 years old and he was the one who had pursued the educator. Establishing whether there is incriminating evidence against the teacher in such cases becomes hard because without the information and evidence from the learner, we sometimes have insufficient evidence to charge the educator,” said Kunene.
He added that in some cases, learners lie against their teachers, but there were cases that were proven to be true and dealt with accordingly.
“One needs to be careful when dealing with such matters to ensure that no one is incriminated for a crime they never committed. Such allegations have the potential to destroy one’s career,” Kunene emphasised.
