TWENTY-THREE pupils at Amhlophe High School in Bulawayo yesterday fell into a hysteria, prompting the school to suspend lessons and Government to commit to providing counselling services to the learners.
Most of the pupils who were affected are in Form Three
while one of them is in Form One.
The incident occurred just after 8AM at the school located
in Pumula East.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education director of
communication and advocacy Mr Taungana Ndoro said: “I can confirm that 23 of
our learners fell into a hysteria at Amhlophe High School in Bulawayo. We
contacted parents of the affected learners to come and take them home.
Most of the learners were in Form Three while one of them
was in Form One. The incident temporarily disrupted learning but everything
later returned to normal.”
He said it was not the first time that such an incident has
occurred at a school in the country but the ministry has not yet established
what could be causing it.
Mr Ndoro said Government will provide counselling services
to Amhlophe High School pupils next week.
“On Monday our ministry teams will provide psychosocial
support to the learners.
We can only provide scientific support to the learners and
we don’t have an opinion on what could have happened.
Remember the Witchcraft Suppression Act is still in
existence so we cannot have an opinion on this except providing scientific
evidence,” said Mr Ndoro.
When a Chronicle news crew visited the school yesterday,
some parents and pupils were milling outside seeking answers over what had
transpired.
It is said the pupils were seen acting in a disorderly
manner as some of them were exiting classrooms through the windows.
Authorities at the school are said to have initially
assumed that the pupils were fighting only to realise that that was not the
case.
Some of the learners were seen shaking while groaning
seemingly in pain at the school’s administration block.
Others had to be supported by parents and guardians as they
struggled to walk on their own.
The incident saw Bulawayo acting Provincial Education
Director Mr Jabulani Sibanda and his team visiting the school to assess the
situation on the ground.
At the entrance of the school’s premises concerned parents
and guardians had engaged a self-proclaimed prophet.
A parent, Mr Busani Nkomo said the incident was worrisome.
“We just saw the pupils becoming chaotic and initially we
thought they were fighting.
But the situation became intense as some of them started
falling down and groaning. It didn’t make sense and that is when residents
started gathering at the school’s entrance.
I’m also told that this is not the first time for this to
happen, just that today it became intense,” said Mr Nkomo. Chronicle
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