TEACHER FIGHTS DISMISSAL AFTER FAMILY TRAGEDY

'My daughter was traumatised'

- GENEVIEVE SERRA

A FORMER Wynberg Girls' Junior School teacher is challenging her dismissal, claiming it followed a private conversation that drew the principal's attention and led to her 13-year-old daughter attempting to take her own life.

Charged with misconduct for breach of confidentiality, the woman is awaiting a date for arbitration for unfair dismissal and an Equality Court inquiry.

The mother, who cannot be identified, was a teacher at the school where her two children were learners. The children have since been transferred to another school.

The mother said their lives were turned upside down in March when her daughter was questioned by school authorities about gossip she shared with a friend about teaching staff.

She said her daughter overheard the conversation between herself and a former colleague and then apparently shared it with a friend via WhatsApp, who then shared it with teaching staff.