Suburban
Ivan Zhakata Suburban Reporter
THE delay in the allocation of furniture to classes at Belvedere Primary School has resulted in pupils having to learn while sitting down on pieces of cloths which women use to wrap around their waists (commonly known as maZambia), raising the ire of parents and guardians.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has dismissed the allegations as malicious as those peddling them were bent on tarnishing the image of the school.
But disgruntled parents said they were shocked when their children told them that they were being instructed to bring java cloths (maZambia) to sit on as there were no chairs and desks to use in classrooms.
When Suburban visited the school to investigate the issue, the school authorities denied our journalists access to the classrooms saying they needed a written letter from their parent Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Sources at the school said the furniture was there but was locked in a classroom to pave way for the allocation of classes to new pupils.
“Currently, the furniture is locked in a classroom because the management is overwhelmed with allocating classes to new pupils and Grade 1s and soon after the exercise is done the desks and chairs will be distributed equally,” said the source.
Parents who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisal on children said they were surprised to hear that the Grade 4 pupils on Monday sat on newspapers on the floor while lessons were in progress.
“My son is in Grade 4 and yesterday (Monday) I was not happy to note that they conducted lessons while pupils were sitting on the floor. The school authorities have failed to explain the situation and what angered me the most is when he told me that they were instructed to bring java cloths to sit on.
“As a parent I must ensure that my child is learning in a conducive environment but what is happening at Belvedere Primary School needs to be looked into. We cannot have children learning while sitting on the floor. We have paid the full school fees and the school should explain where the furniture is,” said one parent.
Contacted for comment, the Director of Communications and Advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro dismissed the allegations a malicious and trying to damage the reputation of the school.
“Belvedere Primary School is one of our shining schools where students or pupils who learn at school usually score high grades. There are quite a number of pupils who last year had straight six “1s” (at Grade 7) and it is still a very good school so some of the allegations may be malicious just to detract our aim for provision of quality education,” he said.
