One class for whites, another for blacks at Eastern Cape school

A grade 1 class at a school in the Eastern Cape has 27 pupils, all black, while another has 13 pupils, all white.

The provincial education department said it would start an investigation tomorrow at King Edward High in Matatiele.

The probe comes after a week in which Laerskool Schweizer-Reneke made headlines around the world when a photograph of a Grade R class showed black children seated at a table in the corner, apart from their white classmates.

The k-word was used openly at a pub in the North West town when the Sunday Times visited this week.

But mayor Aaron Motswana said even though Schweizer-Reneke “has not moved equally like other towns”, racism was not entrenched.

The governing body chair at King Edward High, Andrew Duminy, said children who “battle with English” are kept in a separate class until Grade 3 to give them “special assistance”.

Read the full story in the Sunday Times.