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Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
THE Government has ordered Baines Junior School in Bulawayo’s Northend suburb to stop enrolling pupils for Early Childhood Development (ECD) starting next year.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education said the school was creating an enrolment problem and duplicating duties being done by Baines Infant School.
Baines Junior School has been enrolling ECD classes since 2014.
Parents have, however, complained that the new development will affect their children who are enrolled at the school.
“The school authorities told us that the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry ordered them to scrap the ECD classes. But this is now affecting our children who were doing ECD A who are supposed to go to ECD B. We’re now supposed to look for a new school for our children,” said one of the parents.
Another parent queried why the school has been allowed to have ECD classes for three years.
“I believe that a school cannot just introduce new classes without the knowledge of the parent Ministry. But they have gone for three years having these classes. What has changed? The school had already set up infrastructure for ECD pupils,” said the parent.
The parents said Baines Infant and Baines Junior were different schools with each one having its own administrators.
However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Sylvia Utete-Masango, defended the Government’s position saying Baines Junior School had made a mistake by enrolling ECD pupils.
She said instead of having ECD classes, the school should receive pupils from Baines Infant.
“The infant school feeds into the junior school so those that are in Grade Two at the infant are moving to Grade Three at the junior school. That is the explanation which is very clear and I don’t see why it is now being twisted. The ECDs who are at the Infant are supposed to be a feeder school to Baines Junior,” said Dr Utete-Masango.
She said the changes are in line with the new education curriculum. — @nqotshili
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