Editorial Comment: Tynwald should be helped to heal

ON Friday, Zimbabwe lost six pupils in yet another horrific road accident along the Rusape – Nyanga highway.

The six pupils were all from Tynwald High School.

The accident is said to have been a result of human error, which could have been avoided.

The sad loss has left fellow students, and survivors, traumatised.

The whole nation was plunged into mourning following the death of six innocent souls who had gone on a retreat to freshen up their minds.

It’s a sad loss, which has come at a time when various stakeholders have been educating drivers to be responsible on the roads.

Fellow students, from other schools, were also touched by the loss of the six students whose four-day retreat to the Eastern Highlands ended prematurely.

They mourned the departed, who were laid to rest at Glen Forest Memorial Park, on Monday.

Socialites, influencers and education chiefs thronged the burial ceremony, which attracted a big crowd.

Speakers slammed the bus driver for being reckless behind the wheel.

Parents also slammed the school authorities for allowing the kids to travel at night.

The school head has since accepted the blame and he should be applauded for his honesty even in these trying times.

Many others would have tried to deflect blame to someone else but, as the head of the school, he embraced the responsibility because he understands that the buck stops with him.

As we mourn the young students, who died in the horrific accident, a number of lessons can be drawn from this tragedy.

The tragedy poses a major challenge to parents, and school authorities, to value the welfare of students.

School authorities should know that they have the custody of the future of this country and they should ensure that these kids are not exposed to the kind of dangers which confronted these students.

We all know the dangers of driving at night and that this is a different thing to driving during the day.

We can’t understand how so many students, and their teachers, were put in harm’s way by people who knew that it was dangerous for them to travel at night.

The arrangements for this trip were wrong.

With the memories still fresh and emotions still high, authorities at Tynwald High School need to engage psychologists to help accident survivors in these trying times.

These kids desperately need counselling to help them deal with the memories of the horrific scenes they encountered.

Some will be haunted for the rest of their lives while others will need prayers to heal.

Tynwald High School should not be left to deal with this alone.

This is a national tragedy and all forms of help should be channelled to this school to help the students, teachers and everyone connected with this institution deal with these trying times.

We are all in pain because those kids represented our future and their tragic death has left us all in tears.