Teacher tells Jewish pupil: ‘I’ll send you to one of your gas chambers’
Pressure is mounting on one of London’s most prestigious private schools to fire one of its teachers after she reportedly told a Jewish pupil she would be “sent to one of your gas chambers”.
The shocking incident took place in January at the girls-only North London Collegiate School in Edgware.
The teacher in question, who has not been named, allegedly make the vile comment after the pupil, who was 17 at the time, pushed into a lunch queue. The student was warned: ‘Go to the back of the queue or I’ll send you to one of your gas chambers.”
The horrific remark was overheard by a number of her fellow pupils.
The teacher has since privately apologised to the girl for her slur, but the student’s parents are frustrated by the school’s apparent refusal to publicly identify the culprit or reveal the extent of any disciplinary action.
The Mail on Sunday is reportedly aware of the pupil’s identity but “has agreed to a request by her family not to publish her name”.
The girl’s father told the newspaper: “A teacher was passing by and she rushed up to my daughter and said, ‘Don’t do that or I’ll have to send you to the back of the queue or to one of your gas chambers.’ It was very unpleasant, very uncalled-for and very unfortunate. My daughter was shocked and upset. She didn’t say anything to the teacher at the time but all her friends expressed amazement. They kept saying, ‘Did she really say that?’
“The school doesn’t deserve to be in the middle of a race issue. It is normally a model of correctness in these things. But there should be an element of visibility so people see the teacher has been disciplined. My wife and I would also like the school to make a public statement that there has been an incident.”
The Community Security Trust has been made aware of the incident. A spokesman said: “This would be highly offensive in any circumstance, but to be directed at a pupil by a teacher is unheard of and makes it far worse. We are working with all parties to resolve the matter.”
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