Both eNCA and Open News reported that a high-level delegation of officials visited the school and asked the teacher to temporarily step aside.

A meeting between the education department, the school and the community was still ongoing at 12:00 on Thursday.

Speaking to News24, education department spokesperson Freddy Sepeng said officials were still locked in a meeting at 12:00.

“We are still very busy,” he said.

Earlier, parents were also contacted to remove their children from the school after protests erupted outside the premises on Thursday morning.

The North West Education MEC and other officials visited the school following public outrage over a photograph that surfaced online on the first day of school.

A picture showing about four black pupils seated separately at a desk from a larger group of white pupils at another desk, went viral on social media.

The mother of a Grade R pupil was fuming, TimesLive reported.

The class teacher shared the photograph on the school’s WhatsApp group.

The mother reportedly received it from the class teacher at around 09:00 as an update of the children’s day. DM