THE highly publicised failure rate in last year’s “O” Level public examination results showing that the pass rate had dropped from 19,5% in 2011 to 18,4%, has raised many questions which are yet to be answered among parents, teachers and concerned citizens. WINSTONE ANTONIO
Many theories abound, but what should be more worrisome is the rate of sexual activity going on in schools.
Last year for instance, at a high school in Matabeleland, there were reports of an alleged sex scandal where nine students were suspended from school for allegedly having sex within the school premises. When such acts occur, who will be to blame if such students fail to score better marks in their exams?
Rumours were that about 16 students took advantage of laxity in school rules to indulge in sex.
Although the majority of them were lucky to escape with corporal punishment, this should be a lesson to parents and guardians that schools are no longer as “safe as they used to be”, hence the need for concerted efforts to recreate a good environment for children if they are to concentrate on schoolwork and pass their exams.
As if sex stories around schools were not enough, there were also reports of some students of a local all-girls school who stole indemnity forms, made their parents sign them, forked out money from them and went on a “school” trip of their own, not with boys of their ages, but grown men or sugar daddies.
It is common knowledge that from other institutions, children qualify having a profound expertise in sex issues, something they think is an achievement.
What then will happen when they are expelled from school because of such mischief?
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There is no doubt that these will be among the same people we end up seeing in the streets at night, braving the cold, semi-clothed, selling their bodies, and obviously their souls, so that they can get a few dollars to survive.
Not only are these young girls in the streets, but they have now resorted to search for clients from pubs, drinking places or at any event that would have attracted a crowd.
There is no doubt that such scenarios might be another major factor that has contributed immensely to students’ failure in their exams.
As much as schools can be regarded as second homes for children where parents should be assured of their children’s health and safety, it seems as if this has been lost in most schools.
Teachers at schools are supposed to be the second parents and must have a role to play in terms of counselling and guidance, but students seem to be left sufficiently free to go on to experiment at their own peril.
In two different occasions, students at higher learning institutions had to drop out of school because videos of them in intimate situations leaked.
A pornographic video of two Harare Polytechnic students in 2010 was made available for the whole of Zimbabwe and the world at large to view.
As if this hideous act by the Harare Polytechnic students was not enough, Midlands State University students in May last year followed suit as a video of them having sex started circulating around the campus and two were later arrested.
The way some students are behaving vis-a-vis schoolwork, leaves a lot to be desired. There is no doubt that some school children carry clothes in their bags and would change and go to lodges instead of going to libraries. With such practices, who is to blame for their academic failure?
Some of them are even seen in their uniforms loitering in the streets or visiting movie houses during lesson time. The question now is; Is this the environment that must continue to prevail in Zimbabwe’s learning institutions?
