A secondary school run by the Flemish Community Education Board (GO!) in the East Flemish town of Ninove has launched an internal investigation after some of its staff were accused of ridiculing, bullying and humiliating a group of pupils living with autism. The news of the investigation appears in Friday morning’s edition of the daily ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’. The Head of the school has confirmed that an internal investigation is underway.
Investigation launched into allegations of bullying by teachers at a Ninove secondary school
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The school is a “Middle School” (Middenschool), a school that teaches the first grade (the first two years) of secondary education. Children are able to start school from there from the age of 12 and if they have not had to repeat any of their years in education so far would leave the school at the age of 14.
The GO! Middle School in Nivove is know throughout a wide area of the Dender Valley (East Flanders) and the Pajottenland (Flemish Brabant) for its specially adapted curriculum that has been designed to accommodate pupils with special needs into mainstream education. The school works closely with schools that provided education to children with special needs. At the school there are classes for children aged 12 to 14 that are on the autism spectrum.
The investigation has come about after several teachers at the school alerted the Head about the behaviour of some of their colleagues. They are said to have behaved inappropriately towards a group of children living with autism. The school will give no further comment for the time being.