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ARTICLE · 01 APRIL 2022

Teacher – Pupil Relationship: What Are The Legal Parameters

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The teacher – pupil relationship is not a topic that is adequately explored and discussed amongst the relevant stakeholders, given the events of recent years.

South AfricaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Mtho Maphumulo
Mtho Maphumulo
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The teacher – pupil relationship is not a topic that is adequately explored and discussed amongst the relevant stakeholders, given the events of recent years. One would expect such topic to be visited regularly in view of the frequently rising number of abusive and bullying incidents between teachers and learners. Most recently between February 2022 and March 2022, there has been a few reports of incidents where teacher–pupil relationship has been abused. One such incident happened in the Free State where the teacher has now been dismissed for sexual assault, having hugged and kissed a learner on duty. The facts of this incident present an extremely different abuse of such a relationship, as most usually involve violence. Nonetheless, such behavior does constitute abuse of a teacher–learner relationship. Another most recent incident occurred, again, in the Free State. A teacher violently pushed a learner which has resulted in the suspension of the teacher. In the

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