OUERS MET KOUE SKOUERS

Teachers are leaving profession in droves as rogue parents make their lives a living hell

- BY WENDY JASSON DA COSTA, ANITA NKONKI AND TRACY-LYNN RUITERS

CONCERNS: Naptosa's Moodley

PARENTAL aggression has pushed already-stretched teachers past their limits, forcing many to leave the profession, and in some cases, the country.

Experts warn that schools are becoming battlegrounds, where parents lash out at staff, use verbal and physical abuse, and send threatening calls or emails. Sometimes they even confront pupils directly.

Thirona Moodley of the teachers' union National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) says the situation is out of hand.

She said: “Parents are stepping out of their lanes and engaging with the school on issues that are out of their mandate. They come in like bulldozers...”