Sans Souci students have protested against the school’s code of conduct and principal this past week. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks
4 September 2016
The school governing board of Sans Souci met on Sunday “after the school’s code of conduct came under fire for alleged discriminatory policies regarding … hair styles and the use of indigenous languages at the English single-medium public school.” This is according to a statement released by the school on Sunday night.
The board has committed to review the school’s code of conduct starting on Monday, 5 September. This will be a “thorough and inclusive consultation process with the school community” that includes learners.
Students at Sans Souci have protested this past week. They called for the school principal, Charmaine Murray, to step down. On Friday the Western Cape Education Department announced that Murray will not be reporting at the school on Monday morning. Instead, the school circuit manager Amanda Engelbrecht will attend the school. Whether this means that Murray will be replaced as principal is not yet clear.
Read the school’s full statement.
This year GroundUp has reported numerous protest actions at schools in several provinces. There has been little media interest in these protests. Events at Pretoria Girls High School and Sans Souci over the past two weeks appear to indicate that these protests have now spread to schools with middle-class student bodies, and media interest has increased dramatically.