THE expulsion of eight pupils from Dominican Convent High School in Harare over drug abuse has sparked intense debate, with some hailing the school for taking deterrent measures while critics are questioning how the expelled girls will recover from the blow.
Others have bemoaned loss of parental control owing to contemporary sociological and legal changes.
The Dominican Convent incident has set social media ablaze with different media users and Government officials joining academics in weighing in on the issue.
Leading medical practitioner and former Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer, Professor Solwayo Ngwenya, said in a tweet: “The loss of parental control and the loss of the teacher as the leading and defining figure in children’s discipline has been weakened by modern societal and legal changes, resulting in the arrival of foreign cultural influences. Go back to basics!”
Another social media user, @YassimRichard blasted the school for using punitive justice instead of using restorative justice.
“What’s the plan if the expulsion of a child is the end of education?” Yassim Richard questioned. “Who then do you want to enrol these children? Should you not take them for counselling and education for a month on drug abuse then let them share with the whole school the importance of resisting drugs.”
Another user @Nhanla Dube said the girls should be given another chance.
“This is too harsh, these are teenagers still trying to find their way in the world. There is a need for remedial action, yes, but not expulsion. How will these young girls recover from such a blow? Isn’t Christianity essentially about forgiveness?” @Nlanla Dube said.
However, other concerned citizens hailed the school saying their decision will send a strong message to would-be drug users. “This alone will send a clear message to the remaining students and their parents “ @Robert Ndlovu. Gift Mutasa said corporal punishment would curb the menace and most children are indulging in uncouth activities because of the ban on corporal punishment.
“If we don’t do the best this generation is going to be lost, I was once caught with weed way back in my pockets. My punishment was to dig and uproot 4 big gum trees in preparation for a new school building. Up to now I don’t smoke. Always thankful to the tough headmaster we had,” Mutasa said.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Mr Nick Mangwana, joined the debate.
“Not all drug abuse is about poverty or social deprivation. Saying that is oversimplification of a complex inner city problem. Clearly kids from affluent backgrounds are using quite expensive drugs which points to a problem needing more complex solutions,” he tweeted. Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson Mr Taungana Ndoro said investigations were still being carried out to find out whether the expulsion was done procedurally.
“If a head of a school reasonably suspects a pupil of serious misconduct, the head or headmistress may suspend the pupil for up to at least 14 days and if the head is satisfied after a fair hearing that a pupil is guilty of a serious misconduct which merits expulsion, the head after the consultation with the district schools inspector or the responsible authority, may expel the pupil from the school.
“When a school head finally decides to expel a pupil from the school, the head shall give the parent a written notice of the date on which the expulsion will take effect and they should state the reason or the decision to expel the pupil.
“The parent who has been notified of that expulsion may within at least 14 days of receiving that notice, appeal in writing to the provincial education director and the provincial education director will then give the final decision but he has to make sure that he determines the appeal within at least a month after the appeal has been launched.
“While the appeal is being determined, the pupil who has been expelled shall be permitted to continue attending school. Further, if the head of a school, on reasonable grounds, believes that the attendance may lead to indiscipline or injuries at the school to any other person, he may then prevent the pupil from attending the school for not less than a month pending the finalisation of an appeal,” he said.
Despite an upsurge in drug abuse, Mr Ndoro said the ministry had a very robust mechanism of community outreach programmes that they are carrying out to curb the menace.
“We have carried out a number of community outreach programmes with members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police and Ministry of Youth but this issue needs collective efforts,” he said. – The Herald
