The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere
Parents and teachers at Pimbi Secondary School in Chivhu district are at loggerheads over alleged cases of female students’ abuse by some members of staff. Although there have been no police reports made yet, information gathered by this publication show that about 16 teen girls, who had been staying at an informal boarding facility at the school, may have been subjected to both physical and sexual abuse by teachers.
The informal boarding facility that was set up at the teachers’ quarters accommodated female students who resides in distant resettled areas bordering Chivhu and Chikomba districts. The squabbles have led the Chikomba district education officer, Mr Ngoni Mujuru, to suspend the boarding facility, leaving students, especially those in examination classes, having to walk distances as long as 30 km to school.
In a letter addressed to the affected parents by the school head, only identified as Marisa, on August 3 this year, parents were advised to either take the students out of the boarding facility or transfer them. “We advise you that the current arrangement whereby students from distant areas are allowed to stay at school is no longer available,” reads part of the letter.
“You can look for accommodation for the students elsewhere or you can feel free to collect transfer letters for them to go elsewhere.” The decision, which is a directive from the district office, has riled parents who feel their children are now being victimised for whatever transpired during their stay at the facility.
One of the parents, Mr Thulani Matemachane, said while his Form Three daughter, who is diabetic, may have not been sexually abused, she was subjected to severe physical punishment by one teacher only identified as Chinyoka. He chronicled how children in the resettlement area are bearing the brunt of poor infrastructure.
“Since 2001 when the school started, we had an arrangement for students to stay there as informal boarders to avoid walking long distances and risk various forms of attacks,” he said. “This area was once a farm used for private game ranging and people are often attacked by animals such as hippos, leopards and crocodiles.
“This creates a lot of problems for children, especially the girls, as they cannot fight off or escape the attacks. That is why we decided to have a place where they could stay at the school.”
However, Mr Matemachana said the problems with the arrangement started in July this year when some female teachers accused students of stealing from them and having romantic affairs with male teachers. “The students were being accused of all sorts of things and they were being threatened that they would be sent away.
My opinion is that the teachers want to take over the boarding facility and move in themselves.” He said this is “impossible” as the shelter was built for students by the parents, with the blessing of the local councillor. “What eventually ignited the whole issue is that on a particular day, a teacher from the primary school clashed with the students, accusing them of stealing firewood.
As punishment, she made them to go into the bushes and pick firewood everyday until my daughter, who is diabetic, complained. “The teacher was rude and openly told my daughter that she was now a target.
So I confronted the teacher over the issue and the situation only got worse.” Mr Matemachana said he then took the matter up to the head who in turn asked the students and the teachers to write reports that were supposed to be submitted to the district office.
But when the issue was presented to the district education officer, it was discovered that the deputy head, identified as Mutukwa, was the one who was now taking the blame for punishing the students in a bid to protect Chinyoka.
Mr Matemachana said at this point, fresh allegations popped out, with students accused of having been found with used condoms. “These allegations were coming from the deputy head and at this moment, it became apparent that the children were being used as pawns in a power struggle between the head and her deputy,” he said.
“So the DEO, a Mr Mujuru, said the boarding facility should be closed while the matter is investigated. “The headmaster then wrote to us saying we should take our children from the facility or seek transfer if we were not happy with the arrangement.
The School Development Committee tried to resist the move but it didn’t help and some of the students who were affected, including mine, are not going to school up to this day.” However, some parents indicated that they were not comfortable talking to the media and would not give The Sunday Mail Extra access to their children.
The SDC chairman, Mr Regis Mapiravana, who is also a headman of one of the villages serviced by the school, said the stance to close the boarding facility is tough and could endanger the welfare of the children.
“Since 2002, we have had a problem of lack of proper infrastructure here and women and children are the ones who are affected the most,” he said. “Schools are very far away, there are no proper roads and there is no transport so you can imagine the problems that they will have now.
Most of them have already dropped out of school and we are now trying to engage the district so that we can reconsider this decision.” But some teachers at the school blame the students for the fall-out.
“Most of the male teachers here have their own wives and to say they abused students is just unbelievable,” said one of the teachers who preferred anonymity. “There are theories that some girls were caught with used condoms. lt is also believed that the girls were sneaking some male teachers and boys into their rooms.”
Councillor Christian Kadenge acknowledged the squabbles but said the blame game is now disadvantaging students. “I have heard about the squabbles and I think it was an issue between a teacher and a student and it should have been handled in a better manner.
As the councillor, I have since organised accommodation for some of the students in the nearby areas. Children should not be walking long distances to school,” Councillor Kadenge said. The district education officer for Chikomba. Mr Ngoni Mujuru, said the informal boarding facility was only closed on the basis that it was unlawful.
“It had to be closed because it was illegal. These facilities are not recognised by the ministry,” he said. “Plus, the relationship between students and teachers had become very toxic and something had to be done. In any case, it’s not allowed for students and teachers to co-habit in the manner they were doing,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango, said the matter will be investigated but emphasised that such facilities should be registered so that they can be regulated. “It is something that the ministry will have to investigate first but those facilities should be registered with the ministry.”
