COMMOTION and long queues were the order of the day at secondary schools in Bulawayo yesterday as parents rushed to secure Form One places for their children.
This follows release of 2021 Grade Seven examination
results on Friday, which parents started collecting on Monday.
Although the first term calendar began this week for the
rest of the classes, Form Ones will commence learning next week Monday after
securing places.
The delay in the release of results was occasioned by a
Covid-19 shift in the school calendar in the third term of 2021, which saw the
marking process spilling into January.
A Chronicle news crew conducted a snap survey yesterday
morning, which revealed that most secondary schools were inundated with demand
for Form One places.
There was commotion at the entrance of several
high-performing centres such Mpopoma, St Columba’s and Sizane High schools,
while other schools also had large numbers.
The security guards had a torrid time trying to control
crowds as parents sought to be served first and were told to join the queue.
At Sizane, school authorities were ushering in parents
based on the number of units passes per candidate starting with the best
performers.
However, parents complained that the process was slow and
suggested that an online registration system was the best.
There was a long queue at Mpopoma where boxes were
stationed at the main gate and parents would depose their application letters.
They were required to provide a copy of results, birth
certificates and ED12 forms. A long queue was also seen at St Columba’s in
Makokoba.
Those parents/guardians wishing to send their children to
boarding schools were advised to upload their children’s results on the
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s electronic
platform:www.emap.co.zw.
In separate interviews, parents expressed frustration over
the pressure involved when applying for Form One places and complained that the
procedures demanded by schools were cumbersome.
Mr Bhekifa Ndlovu, a parent who was at Sizane, said day
schools must introduce an online application system so as to reduce the burden
on applicants who are forced to spend many hours without being served.
“Trying to secure a place is very stressful, the errands
are just too much and you have to leave everything or take off days from work
moving from one school to another dropping application forms,” he said.
“We came to Sizane at around 7AM and the process is dragging
but because we need the place, we are patient even if we are not sure whether
we will get the places or not.
“Only if they could just tell us their cut off points it
would be better, but right now they said just wait here, we are starting from
six units we will tell you when we have reached our enrolment limit.”
The parents complained that the Government has given them
limited time to secure places and that preparation time for other logistics was
shorter.
“The challenge is that if I fail to secure the place today
(Tuesday) up to Thursday, I’ll be left with Friday to get the place and buy all
school requirements because my child is expected at school on Monday,” said the
parent.
“Only if the Government would have mercy, and introduce a
system like that of boarding schools, whereby application is done online,
things would be better. We will be able to apply at more than five schools in
one day.”
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