Parents at a school in South Africa barred children from entering class on the first day of term (on Monday) in protest against the appointment of a black principal, reports IOL News.

“We want a coloured principal because this is a coloured area,” school Governing Body member Henry Charles is quoted as saying.

In South Africa, people of mixed race are referred to as coloured. They are the biggest race group after black people and white people.

The protesters at Klipspruit Secondary School near the main city Johannesburg, locked the school gates, IOL adds.

The newspaper says the parents complained that “there is a lack of representation of coloured people in school leadership positions”.

News 24 adds that education department officials said the protest was racist and contrary to the county’s “non-racial principles”. (BBC)