Language row flares up

PARENTS removed their children from classes at the Kuyga Intermediate School in Greenbushes yesterday and demanded they be taught in Afrikaans, rather than English.

Police were called in to defuse the situation after Xhosa-speaking parents accused the Afrikaans-speaking parents of being disruptive. Calm was restored, with those pupils who were earlier removed returning to class.

Tension at the school has been brewing for a while, with the language issue causing the two groups – now grouped racially – to lash out at each other despite an agreement last week that the children be taught in English until the education department finds Afrikaans teachers.