GWERU teachers and pupils from Grades 4 to Form 6 were
yesterday compelled to attend the official opening of the Zimbabwe Youth and
Paralympic Games at Mkoba Stadium, where President Emmerson Mnangagwa was
officiating.
The move was aimed at boosting attendance at the venue
located in the MDC stronghold.
Mkoba constituency has been in the hands of MDC since the
opposition party’s formation and Zanu PF has performed dismally in the area in
all elections.
In a communication sent to all headmasters in the city on
Tuesday, the acting Gweru district schools inspector Angeline Zahile, citing
authority from top officials, ordered that all learners from Grades 4 to “A”
Level, teachers, support staff and all officers in the education ministry
attend the event without fail.
Schools were ordered to suspend lessons and cancel mid-year
examinations currently underway.
Though Mnangagwa was expected to officiate at 3pm, the
correspondence ordered all educators and pupils to be seated in the stadium by
11:30am. They had to endure the scorching sun until the end of the proceedings
around 4pm.
The correspondence, seen by Southern Eye, reads: “Tomorrow
[yesterday], the State President will be in our district for the official
opening of the Youth Games at Mkoba Stadium. What does this mean? The message
from the PED (provincial education director) is, take note all leaners from
Grades 4 up to ‘A’ Level, teachers, support staff and school heads and all
district staff are expected to be seated by 11:30am in the stadium,” she wrote.
“So, may we suspend all mid-morning and afternoon mid-year
examinations or lessons and all go to the stadium … all schools with buses,
inclusive of St Patrick’s, Lower Gweru, Anderson Adventist High School, Guinea
Fowl and in our rural areas are expected to carry learners and teachers to
Mkoba Stadium … We expect a minimum of 5 000 learners to be in that stadium…
HEADS (school headmasters), THIS IN AN INSTRUCTION! Thank you,” Zahile ordered.
Contacted for comment, Progressive Teachers’ Union of
Zimbabwe president, Takavafira Zhou, condemned the development, saying it
violated children and teachers’ rights.
“The DSI is certainly off-side. To cancel lessons and
examinations because of Youth Games is the highest ludicrous hallucination by a
Zanu PF activist, masquerading as a DSI. Schools are terrains for learning and
not extensions of Zanu PF mass mobilisation. To also force all teachers and
pupils to be at the Youth Games venue, merely because Mnangagwa is coming
there, is a violation of their freedom of association, let alone a violation of
children’s rights,” he said.
“PTUZ condemns outrightly such force-marching of teachers
and pupils to Youth Games at the expense of teaching and learning. Worse still,
the DSI is forcing minors to attend a rally without the consent of their
parents. Any movement of pupils outside the school premises must be indemnified
by parents.”
There was a stampede during the proceedings as security
details prohibited people from leaving the venue before Mnangagwa had finished
his address.
Mnangagwa, in his speech, said sport teaches inclusivity
and discipline. “The Youths and Paralympic games were initiated to uplift
people living with disabilities. This willingness is enshrined in our Vision
2030. Indeed, sports knows no colour… it also teaches people to respect rules
and laws. My government is going to increase the funding of these games,” he
said.
He also congratulated the women’s netball team, The Gems,
for their success at the World Cup and challenged the Zimbabwe Football Association
to take a leaf and ensure the men’s national team, the Warriors, reach similar
levels. Newsday
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