Video: Preschool teacher slaps baby
A teacher was caught on CCTV cameras while hitting a nine-month-old baby.
Local resident Gary Potgieter recently provided the news with CCTV footage showing how his nine-month-old son Eben is being beaten by a teacher while lying in his cot at a local preschool.
This despite corporal punishment being against the school’s policy and in contravention of the Schools Act (which includes preschools) that stipulates that any teacher administering physical punishment faces prosecution for assault, and may be fined or even jailed.
It goes on to state that corporal or physical punishment can take many forms, including hitting with a hand.
Potgieter, his wife Karen and owners of the school decided to make the video public to expose the teacher, who since has left the school after working there for a short period of time.
They say they also share the footage to make the public aware of the evils and challenges within the preschool industry.
One of the owners of the school who wishes to stay anonymous says that despite a thorough background and reference check the particular teacher involved disappointed them.
She owes this to a lack of structure within the industry for owners and principals to report concerns regarding employees.
“Five reference letters and calls to all her previous employers never gave us reason to doubt her competence and alleged 14 year experience in the industry,” she says.
“We as a preschool as part of a large local industry decided to lay our cards on the table, seeing that we have no board or society to turn to and because we want to ensure that this does not happen to other children in the area.”
The teacher involved granted the news an interview stating that her lawyers are handling the matter and that the video footage is being examined.
She added that she was under a lot of pressure on the day and that “things became a little too much to handle”.
The news plans to publish a follow-up article on the matter.
