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. . . Thirty students barred from school activities
. . . Accused of bashing Form 3 and 5 students
Talent Gore
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has launched an investigation into an incident of bullying in which 30 students were barred from all school activities at Chemhanza High School in Hwedza.
The group, which comprised Form 4 and Form 6 students, was accused of assaulting several Form 3 and Form 5 students in their dormitory.
They only stopped when school authorities intervened.
The incident happened on September 17.
The Ministry’s spokesperson, Taungana Ndoro, said the students were being excluded from school to allow investigations to take place.
Ndoro assured concerned parents that they were taking all possible measures to ensure the safety of students in schools.
“The issue is that we don’t just expel pupils from school. There are a lot of investigations carried out before a person is expelled from school,” said Ndoro.
“We have also sent our teams on the ground to provide psychological support to other learners.
“We want them to understand that while this incident happened, it is not usual within our schools.
“We also need to interrogate this case beyond what happened in the school.
“We need to assess the home situations as we try to establish what could have happened.”
Ndoro said the students will be allowed to write their exams from home while investigations are taking place.
“We have a very strict policy against bullying in our schools, and that is why even corporal punishment was abolished.”
Bongani Ndlovu
Mathew Masinge