Anela Pritchard, the 15-year-old Napier Girls High School student whose classroom speech criticising teachers went viral on the internet, was welcomed back to school today.
“Teachers are paid to teach, not paid to hand out a piece of paper and sit around and do nothing.”
These are the words Anela used in her persuasive speech assignment at school.
A speech that criticises the willingness of some teachers to help their students and the overall school education system.
Anela says, “I never really pictured that this would happen. I didn’t really think it was a possibility, it's amazing.”
Anela’s father, Andrew Pritchard says, “I'm really proud of her for standing up for herself.”
Her father then received a phone call from the school dean telling him that his daughter was not allowed back the next day.
“They said to me that Anela was to stay at home,” says Andrew Pritchard.
In a statement, the school says while it does value student voice, the fact that she had emailed a copy of her speech to a number of teachers caused upset to staff and students.
The school met with her family yesterday and held a meeting with her classmates and says the issue has been resolved and that she is welcome back to school today.
She has posted her full speech online which has caused a mixture of reactions, but this high school student says she won't be returning to Napier Girls.