HARARE – In a move that is likely to send shivers down the spines of corrupt school authorities, the headmaster of Nyarumvurwe Primary School here has been suspended over suspected mismanagement and abuse of funds.
The suspension is meant to allow for investigations by the Paul Mavima-led ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
His suspension follows a flurry of anonymous letters from pupils at the rural school received by the ministry.
Eastern News has it on good authority that the extraordinary action by the pupils could have been instigated by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) known as Nyanga Community Development Trust (NCDT).
NCDT is said to have mobilised the pupils into two committees namely the Child Protection Committee (CPC) and the Junior School Development Committees (JSDC) to fight for their interests.
Sources said there was an attempted break-in into an office from which the auditors dispatched by the ministry were working, sparking speculation that someone might have tried to destroy or tamper with evidence.
This prompted the ministry to dispatch senior officials to the school to investigate the incident.
Efforts to get a comment from both the headmaster and provincial education director, Edward Shumba, were not fruitful by the time of going to print.
The NCDT declined to comment on the matter, referring questions to the ministry.
“As development partners, we cannot comment on government’s internal processes.
“I’m sure the ministry of Education has officials who are authorised to comment on such matters,” is all that NCDT coordinator, James Matsito, could say.
Matsito, however, confirmed that the NGO facilitated the setting up of the CPC and JSDC as part of efforts to empower children to hold office bearers at the school to account as well as enabling them to participate in the governance of their school.
“What I can confirm is that indeed we are working with schools and empowering pupils to work together to protect themselves from abuse as well as participate in their schools’ governance issues,” he said. – Daily News
