Johannesburg — SOLIDARITY'S civil society lobby group AfriForum and parents from Mpumalanga's Hoerskool Ermelo have decided to take part in protests against the provincial education department's decision to force the formally Afrikaans-medium school to teach in both Afrikaans and English.

The group would decide whether to stage a protest march as part of the campaign depending on the outcome of suspended principal Koos Kruger's disciplinary hearing which starts today , AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said.

The Mpumalanga education department would only make public the charges Kruger faced after the hearing began in Ermelo this morning, said department spokesman Hlahla Ngwenya.

The school has admitted 95 pupils who want to be taught in English, but has also fought the Mpumalanga education department 's decision to forc e the school to take the pupils on.

The campaigners had published a petition form on AfriForum's website and the public could "express their disappointment at the education authorities' 'disregard for Afrikaans' ", Kriel said.