NORTH WEST. – Grade 12 learners at Hoërskool Tshipietsile panicked at their revision camp near Morokweng on Saturday and packed to leave the site after someone claimed that supernatural forces were present and that four learners would die if they stayed.
According to Mercy Mokgatle, spokeswoman for the education department, the claims were not backed by any evidence. The claims were passed on to learners and then came to the attention of parents. A preliminary report by the department shows that the situation worsened when two visitors arrived at the camp and told the learners about the claims. The learners were distressed, packed their belongings and called their parents.
The district and school management decided that parents should collect their children to calm the situation. According to Mokgatle, all the learners left safely with their parents. The department held a meeting with parents on Sunday. They agreed that from Monday the learners would be transferred to a nearby school, approximately 800 metres from the school in question.
Mokgatle said the department was appealing to parents and the community to be careful with information about schools and learners. Concerns about learner safety should be reported to the school management or the department rather than being spread as fact. The department particularly wanted learners to remain safe and focused during the final exams.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
