Fresh headache for parents as schools re-open

These parents were however, oblivious of a new scourge pervading local learning institutions that can result in lasting mental and physical suffering to their children, according to education experts.
Recent reports indicate that violence at schools that is spiraling out of control — murder of students, sexual harassment, corporal punishment and bullying, which in some instances, has resulted in pupils/students being hospitalised.
In a Parliamentary debate of October 23 2009, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) Masvingo Urban Member of Parliament, Tongai Matutu, who is also a practicing lawyer, told the House of Assembly that, as a remedy, legislators should enact a law to prohibit corporal punishment in schools.
“I am saying this because over the weekend in Mwenezi constituency I heard a sad story of a headmaster who assaulted a schoolboy because he was found outside the school area… As I am speaking right now, the child is in hospital with serious brain damage,” Matutu said.
And in another shocking and fatal development, a Chinhoyi High School student, Moreblessing Musiiwa, died after he was allegedly struck with a cricket bat by the school’s sports director, Joseph Mpala, while caretaker, Lameck Katungunde, held him.
The High Court granted the two suspects bail two months ago.
In response to the violence, Plan International has mulled the “Learn without Fear” initiative to reduce or halt abuse at schools.
According to a study the organisation undertook last year, there is a prevalence of sexual violence in schools, which often goes unreported; corporal punishment by teachers and bullying by fellow schoolchildren among other rights abuses.
The study said 67 percent of children and 35 percent of teachers concurred that at one time or another corporal punishment is perpetrated by all teachers.
Researchers Fiona Leach, Pamela Machakanja and Jennifer Mandoga concluded that Zimbabwean schools have fostered an authoritarian culture where the behavior of teachers cannot be questioned, thereby entrenching the abuse of students.
“Male sexual aggression in schools appears to be institutionalised and considered as normal. Girls respond on the whole with resignation and passivity. Schools are themselves complicit in the abuse in that they fail to discipline perpetrators (whether pupils or teachers), deny that abuse exists, and foster an authoritarian culture where the behaviour of teachers cannot be questioned,” they said.
Justice for Children Trust, said although Zimbabwe ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on October 11 1990, corporal punishment still forms part of local statutes, but in neighbouring South Africa — which also subscribes to the same convention —  it is now prohibited.
To expose the government’s attitude towards the convention, the Trust said the agreement has a five-year reporting period but Zimbabwe had done so only once and that was in 1995.
Away from the abuses but still on the violation of school children’s rights, the Youth Forum of Zimba-bwe, said the current exorbitant fees demanded by some institutions constitute discrimination against the poor in terms of accessing education.
Most private and trust schools are charging fees of between US$1 200 and US$2 000 for secondary schoolboarders per term while government schools are demanding US$850  for boarders at formerly Group A public schools.
Reports indicate that Dominican Convent Senior Sch-ool is demanding about US$650 for day scholars per term while St Ignatius High School in Chis-hawasha and Che-gato High in Mbe-rengwa are charging about US$400 in boarding fees.
At most high density public secondary schools authorities are charging US$105 per term per child.
To the dismay of parents, cases of embezzlement of funds by school authorities since the adoption of multi-currencies last Feb-ruary have been on the rise prompting the police to arrest a number of headmasters or headmistresses including those based at Kuwadzana 4 Primary School in Harare, St Aug-ustines High School in Penhalonga and St David’s Bonda High School.
“Education continues to be both inaccessible and unaffordable…it’s clear that discrimination in accessing basic rights such as health and education is purely on monetary grounds, with the rich being able to access such rights,” the Youth Forum said in a statement.
On the other hand Justice for Children Trust, said although local laws and policies such as the Basic Education Assistance Module and the National Action Plan for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children provided social security, the welfare structures have been neglected and some of them have been rendered non-existent for the past six to 10 years due to lack of resources, poor management and unbalanced resource allocation, among other issues.
“The current Education Act provides that education is every child’s right and that primary education is compulsory and free of charge, however, this is not the case on the ground as scores of children are not attending primary school.
“The government has ‘scrapped’ or ‘reduced’ school fees but at the same time it allows school development associations and councils to charge unaffordable levies, which leaves lots of children unable to attend school,” the Trust said in a statement.
“Further to that, teachers in the schools are not being provided with adequate tools of their trade neither are they adequately motivated to do their work and this has curtailed children’s right to education, not to mention the unaffordable examination fees.”
Last year, Education Minister, David Coltart, said in some rural schools the student textbook ratio stood at 30:1 while in urban areas it was mostly at 20:1 or 15: 1.
In its statement the Children’s Trust, said although the government believes it has made significant progress in addressing provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children the situation on the ground points to the contrary.
In terms of Article 7 of the Convention, every child has a right to a nationality, a name and a birth certificate — the latter — a requirement in writing public examination in the country.
“The country should seriously consider birth registration as it is the mainstay of any child’s future and the enjoyment of almost all the other rights.
“A lot of children do not have birth certificates due to factors that include lack of adequate resources at the Registrar’s General office, lack of civic education on the importance and requirements of registration, stringent requirements and lack of national identity documents and death certificates of the children’s parents,” the children’s organisation said.
“This is all despite the fact that the Birth and Death registration Act states that every child must be registered within six weeks of birth.