Chiyangwa embroiled in ugly wrangle with Southlea Park residents over school Chiyangwa embroiled in ugly wrangle with Southlea Park residents over school
Phillip Chiyangwa
THOUSANDS of pupils at Southlea Park, a community primary school in Harare South, face a bleak future after a controversial decision by a dodgy consortium to turn the learning centre in the low-income suburb into a private institution, it has been established.
Angry parents, who have already protested on several occasions at one time reportedly forcing the deployment of an army stick to quell violence suspect that the consortium bribed senior education officials to privatise the school, which they helped build.
By Stephen Tsamba
THE Education Ministry has attributed the 6.8% pass rate decline in Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) Ordinary Level results to the devastating effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Spokesperson in the ministry, Taungana Ndoro told NewZimbabwe.com Wednesday the pandemic induced lockdown had seen a significant decline in the Ordinary Level pass rate due to reduced face-to-face teaching.
Schools were forced to introduce on-line teaching, but this was not practical in some schools especially government learning centres due to the unavailability of ICT gadgets, learning material, and high data costs.
“It is the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused the gap because it forced a lockdown which forced schools to close and, therefore, there was limited face-to-face teaching,” he said.
THE Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) has released the 2020 November ‘A’ Level results.
The results were delayed by Covid-19 restrictions amid reports examiners at one point downed tools demanding better allowances for marking.
According to a ZIMSEC statement, the pass rate was 81.2%, a decline from the 83% recorded in 2019.
A total of 49 153 students sat for the examinations with 39 802 managing Grade E or better in two or more examinations.
Collection starts Friday, 23 May 2021.
There was an outcry in February when the Grade Seven ZIMSEC results for 2020 students were released over a decline in the pass rate with government accused of neglecting the education sector and unwilling to review the salaries of teachers.
Child marriage cases spike in Sanyati
FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Maidei Changa (not her real name) struggled to breastfeed her two-month-old baby.
Maidei missed Form One at a nearby secondary school in ward 10 under Chief Hozhele in Sanyati after falling pregnant last year and is now a member of a child-headed family.
She is a sad reality gripping the outlying areas where most girls were trapped into early marriages in Mashonaland West province and most parts of the country.
Maidei said she was enticed into a marriage that did not last.
‘‘I got married early as a gateway to a better life than what I was used to back home. My family members still look forward to me for virtually everything. They would demand financial support from my husband. This drove him away from taking responsibility of his child, my brothers and sisters,’’ she said.
There was a time when upon query by a relative on what they were now doing, young people would proudly say, “Ndakapedza chikoro” (I am done with school).