The father of a 10-year-old Meyerton Primary School pupil who was suspended from school has accused authorities of depriving his son the right to education.

This comes after the grade 5 pupil, who cannot be named, was suspended last week for allegedly making jokes and smiling in class.

"The teacher complained that he was being disruptive in class. I know that he is hyper active but the school should have programmes that will assist him," said the father who also cannot be identified to protect the identity of the child.

"I am worried that he is lagging behind and he might fail his exams. When I raised the issue with the school, they told me that he will see to it himself how he is going to catch up."

On October 11 the school principal sent a letter to the father requesting the boy to appear before a disciplinary hearing.

The parents were shown the alleged disruptive behaviour of their son.

There was also an exchange of messages between the father and a maths teacher before that.

The messages read: "Dear parent [your son] is disrupting my class and playing around on the first day of school. He is back-chatting me and still making jokes. I will not accept this."

The father responded: "It looks like you are now too personal to my child and that annoys me now, do your work of teaching kids than stupid complaints sometimes, as if you're not an adult".

Gauteng education spokesman Steve Mabona said: "This was the last resort since the pupil had numerous demerits, despite several attempts by the school to engage with the parents regarding the conduct of the learner."