Curro teacher in Gauteng fired for telling learner to stop laughing ‘like an idiot’

In March 2023, a teacher was fired from Curro Vanderbijlpark in Gauteng for asking a student to stop laughing “like an idiot.” The teacher has said that her firing was “utterly unfair.”

The school’s head of life sciences, Kavitha Reddy, was talking about the event in public for the first time.”Conduct unbecoming of an educator” was the charge against her after the event in a Grade 11 class on February 16, 2023, which other students saw.

It was said that what she did “led to the humiliation of the learner,” which is against the rules and goes against the Curro code of ethics and the ideals of positive discipline.
According to a summary of the disciplinary proceedings, Nicol Kriel, who was the head of the high school, confirmed he interviewed several pupils who were present during the incident described by the girl, and all of them corroborated her version of events.

He stated Reddy had been previously subjected to counseling, training, and guidance following similar incidents—claims she vehemently denied.She informed News24 that “Curro made false accusations of support and counseling offered to me” and that she received zero aid.
Reddy testified at the disciplinary hearing that she had been asked to oversee a test in a Grade 11 class, a request she had initially turned down “due to a poor relationship” with the student. When Reddy got to the classroom, she discovered the student sitting in a corner, laughing uncontrollably.

Reddy, an experienced teacher, subject head, and grade head, was dismissed after being criticized for disrespecting a student. Despite being treated respectfully by her peers, she referred to the student as ‘acting like an idiot’. The Curro disciplinary code prescribes dismissal as the appropriate sanction for such transgressions. Reddy built a successful life sciences department without leadership.

She said: I gained the respect of both the learners and the parents, and my dismissal negatively impacted on the future of the learners. Many parents contacted me, some even asking for petitions for my reinstatement to occur.

Reddy denied any previous warnings or serious incidents during her 13-year tenure at Curro, claiming her professional record was blemished by personal issues within management. She claimed Curro displayed racist behavior towards people of color.
Curro Holdings has found Reddy Reddy guilty of gross misconduct following a disciplinary hearing and her dismissal a year ago. The chairperson of the hearing found Reddy had publicly denigrated a pupil in front of her classmates, breaching the Curro code of ethics. The employer’s decision was upheld in an internal appeal, and a complaint was lodged with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration. Reddy abandoned the complaint on April 13, 2023. Curro Holdings believes every child matters and respects the constitutional imperative to protect their rights.