GRADE ONE TEACHER, CONVICTED FOR BASHING A STUTTERING PUPIL, BACK AT SCHOOL, ANGERS PARENTS

Arron Nyamayaro

A GRADE 1 teacher, who was sentenced to four months imprisonment for bashing a six-year-old pupil with a blackboard ruler and then escaped jail by paying a fine, has become a divisive figure at St Martin’s Convent Primary School in Harare.

The stuttering pupil, whose name cannot be revealed because the attack was the abuse of a minor, was bashed for failing to answer questions during a lesson.

Audrey Bayana was the teacher who attacked the pupil and she was convicted of using a blackboard ruler to beat the child.

The student sustained injuries to his right eye but has since recovered.

A Mbare Magistrate sentenced Bayana to four months in prison or alternatively a US$200 fine.

She paid the fine and was released.

Her conviction did not trigger a response or any action from the school’s authorities even though it was related to the severe assault of a very young pupil.

This has angered some parents who told H-Metro this gives an impression that such attacks on the kids are allowed at the school even though they are considered unlawful by the State.

That the teacher would have gone to jail, if she had not paid a fine, highlights the seriousness of the offence and why it should have led the school authorities to act, said some of the parents.

“Bayana was convicted for assaulting a Grade 1 pupil and the school did not take any action about it.

“She is back at the school and is part of the teachers encouraging school authorities to take parents, who are failing to pay fees, to debt collectors.

“This is unfair and we are urging the school authorities to put their house in order before we take action,” said one of the parents, who chose not to be named because of fears his children could be targeted.

H-Metro has been told that at the time of the incident, Bayana and the headmistress at the school tried to reason with the child’s mother for the parties to resolve the case without involving authorities like the police.

However, the mother of the child was so angry with the way that her child had been bashed that she rejected all calls for the parties to resolve the case without involving the police.

She insisted that the law should take its course and reported the matter to the police.