In a development which could act as a wake-up call to Zimbabwean authorities who have adamantly treated the school teachers’ concerns of incapacitation as a non-event, reports from the Midlands Province indicate that a total of 20 Ordinary Level students at Loreto High School in Silobela have been suspended for reportedly engaging in group sex.
According to the reports, one of the students has allegedly engaged on a hunger strike in a desperate pursuit to downplay her suspension. This was after the pupils- who included both boys and girls- were caught pants down at a girls dormitory in July.
The development has raised the ire of the parents who question the motive behind suspending the students while on the brink of sitting for their final examinations. This also comes at a time when Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema recently denied to Zwnews that the pupils at the learning institutions were engaging in interdicted activities in the absence of their teachers who declared incapacitation due to underpayment blamable on their defiant employer.
Midlands Provincial Education Director Jameson Machimbira confirmed the incident on Friday, and also revealed that a team has been deployed to the institution to look into the matter.
“Yes, we received information that some pupils both male and female from Loreto High School had been suspended following reports that they were caught engaging in unconfirmed sexual activities. I received phone calls from some affected parents who wanted the Ministry (Primary and Secondary Education) to intervene citing the timing of the suspensions. So, we sent a team to investigate the matter on Friday and they are still to give me a report. So, I am waiting for the report,” Machimbira told the state media.
When Zwnews, which broke the story of the sexual misconduct bedevilling Zimbabwe schools, querried Minister Mathema on the issue, he claimed that it was his first time to hear about such reports.
“I don’t know anything about that. Infact, I am just hearing this from you,” Mathema claimed in an interview with a Zwnews reporter recently.
This was despite the emergence of amateur video footages of brazen ‘pornographic’ stunts by the ‘teacher-less’ pupils. The most depressing one is the infamous footage of a one Maud, at a school in Chegutu.
Zwnews/state media
