Tuesday, 4 April 2023

NO TISSUES AT PRINCE EDWARD SCHOOL

PRINCE Edward School is in such a financial mess that it is struggling to pay suppliers of some of the basic things which the students use, including those meant to safeguard their health, like tissues.

Many of the suppliers are owed for business, which stretches back to the beginning of Term 3, last year.

Their battles to be paid by the elite school have been unsuccessful with many of them being told that funds have run out and the institution was struggling to balance its books.

Last week, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education launched investigations into Prince Edward High School headmaster, Agrippa Sora, amid allegations that he was abusing school funds.

Parents with children at the school sent a petition seeking the Government’s intervention.

H-Metro has been told that the rot has been crippling Prince Edward School for some time now.

“You will not believe it but things have deteriorated to such an extent that, at some point in January this year, the school was struggling to secure something as basic as tissues for the students,” said the sources.

“The authorities were scrambling to get some supplies but kept hitting a brick wall because the school didn’t have the capacity to pay for the product.

“Now, you are talking about January, just when the schools had just opened and the parents had paid the fees and other related costs.

“That’s when you expect a school to be in such a strong financial position to deal with such costs but at PE we were scrambling just to try and get tissues for the kids.

“No one wanted to supply us because we had not paid for the goods and services which had been given to us in the previous term and the money which the kids had paid for the school term had already been used up in one way or the other.

“Now, this is a sensitive issue because it’s like we are playing Russian Roulette with the health of the kids and that’s an area you, as a guardian, should never play with.”

Questions have also been raised about the way a truck was secured from South Africa, for use by the headmaster, while a number of red lights are also flashing around the deal, which secured a bus, for the school.

“It’s about the cost of the vehicles, one or two people are not happy with how the entire process was done and there are more questions than answers.”

Director of communications and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Taungana Ndoro, last week confirmed that they had received the petition.

“We have received the petition and are conducting investigations into the matter,” he said.

The SDC chairperson, only identified as Pastor Chris, who is also being implicated in the scam, said they were looking forward to the Ministry’s intervention.

“I haven’t seen the petition officially, but only on social media and I am expecting the Ministry’s intervention.” H Metro

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