A case of common assault has been opened against a Free State teacher who made national headlines after a classroom scuffle with one of her students. The teacher is also accused of trying to bring the Department of Education into disrepute after the alleged attack was filmed on a mobile phone.
Her husband, Greg Balios, spoke to SABC News to tell her side of the story after questioning the motive that she was not contacted for comment when the story broke.
Balios has questioned the lack of fairness, objectivity and balanced reporting on the incident, captured in a video that went viral on social media.
This follows an SABC news report on the incident, in which the student’s mother claimed he received a phone call in class that led to the scuffle.
“My biggest concern with that news report was that I don’t think it was objective, balanced or fair, and that’s what I was complaining about. I think balance and objectivity are similar. It’s objective because in my opinion the story leans a bit to one side and balanced because no other side of the story was reported and then honesty, it wasn’t fair. It could easily believe or lead the viewing public to believe that what was reported was in fact confirmed facts. I think that’s pretty much what people believed,” Balios said.
Balios says he didn’t think much about the incident when his wife told him about it. He adds that according to his wife, incidents with students occur every day, but this incident turned physical. His wife has a different version of events.
“She told me about an incident that had happened and when she had a class that was misbehaving, there was usually one student who insisted on playing a game on his phone during class and she asked him to turn it off. And I think first he put the phone away, then he took it out and he kept doing it and the whole class, as I understand it, behaved a little. And when he refused to listen to her, she tried to confiscate the phone. She warned him that she would confiscate the phone.”
He has also raised issues of gender-based violence in the country, saying it was disturbing to see a woman struggling in this way.
“It’s a specific problem in South Africa, so I believe and with young people I think they need to know, they need to learn from that, that it’s not okay and I don’t think that’s the message that came across in this presentation in the media. I think the message was on the other side and that’s why I think some effort needs to be made, especially in an all-boys school. There is a difference between: none is acceptable, but if it is against a woman, it is especially worse.
Police have confirmed that the 14-year-old boy has opened a criminal case with the Welcome police against the teacher.
Meanwhile, the Free State Ministry of Education says the investigation into the incident is at an advanced stage.
“These are serious allegations and we take them in a serious light. And let us allow due process to be followed and in due course we hope that we will bring this matter to a close. And we will be back to report to the public,” said Howard Ndaba, spokesperson for the Free State Ministry of Education.
The ministry says it has 90 days to complete the investigation.
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