Teachers want to leave a KwaZulu-Natal school because pupils have sex and drink alcohol during school hours.

The educators said the pupils' drunken behaviour was making it impossible to teach at Inkosi Lubhoko Comprehensive High School in Ekuhlehleni village in Ingwavuna, near the border of Swaziland and South Africa.

Pupils allegedly fondle each other in class while others have sex and drink alcohol in a bush close to the school. This has resulted in some teachers opting to leave the school.

"Four of my colleagues have decided to look for teaching opportunities elsewhere in the province.

"Some of these learners fondle each other during lessons and if you try to intervene, they threaten to harm you," said one teacher who spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity.

He said the school had been infiltrated by drug lords who sell drugs to pupils and use some of the learners as merchants.

"The problem is big. There is a nearby bush that has been turned into a drug and sex den. Pupils skip lessons by going to the bush to have a fix and they don't come back."

The teacher said he was worried that pupils were not using protection during their sexual adventures.

"Learners as young as 13 are experimenting with drugs and sex. The future is really bleak and there is nothing we can do here other than to go to other schools where we would be appreciated," the teacher added.

Another teacher agreed the situation was out of control.

"We have raised our concerns with both the school governing body and principal. They ask us to be patient because if we leave during this critical time, we will disturb the preparations for the matric exams. One thing for sure, I'm not coming back here next year," the teacher said.

A third teacher said the problem only begun this year.

"I have been teaching at this school for two years. Learners here used to be good with no discipline problems.

"Things began to change this year with overage pupils who are the source of the chaos. How can you teach when a child regards you as a potential girlfriend? These learners even kiss and touch each other in class during lessons," she said.

She said on two occasions older pupils in her class had hit on her.

"When a learner tells you upakile [you have a big, nicely-shaped butt] , what are you supposed to say?"

The teachers said there were new drug lords in the area who are using the children to sell drugs. They vowed not to return next year as they feared for their safety.

The spot where the pupils are alleged to smoke drugs and have sex is said to be littered with used condoms, dagga joints and cigarette buds.

Police had not responded to requests for comment sent yesterday. 

We're not all rotten, some pupils proclaim

A GRADE 12 pupil confirmed what the teachers were complaining about but said it was only a few pupils who misbehaved.

"The school has a problem of dagga, making learners to behave in a strange manner. Most of us are just praying that we complete matric and leave," he said.

Another Grade 12 pupilsaid: "Not everyone is problematic at the school. Some of us want to complete matric and enrol for [studies]. A few learners who are over the school-going age are responsible for this."

Michael Nhlabathi, chairman of the school governing body, said: "The problem here is ill-disciplined pupils who refuse to cooperate with teachers. They target teachers who are not from the area and tell them that they are not needed."

Nhlabathi said they reported the matter to the district office and requested that officials be present at a meeting last week.

"We held it and no one came from the department."

Provincial education spokesman Sicelo Khuzwayo said officials would be dispatched to investigate the allegations. "What is happening in the school cannot be condoned ... The department will investigate this complaint as a matter of urgency."