Chronicle Editor
RIVALRIES between schools should be based on excellence and not the hatred and bullying that has led to the death of a Form Four pupil at Bulawayo’s Founders High School at the hands of pupils from neighbouring Hamilton High School.
A young soul, Wayne Ndlovu (16) died on Monday afternoon after he was stabbed in a suspected turf war involving boys from Hamilton High School and his school, Founders High.
A 17-year-old Hamiltom High School pupil has since been arrested for stabbing Wayne and appeared in court facing a murder charge.
The learner’s death is a culmination of a series of turf wars pitting pupils from various schools in the city.
Back in the day, for example, Founders and Hamilton were known for producing some of the best chess players in the city added to Milton High School, Christian Brothers College (CBC) and Gifford High School.
It was always a sweet victory for the schools when their players, as individuals or as a collective, dominated chess tournaments.
The same can be said about other disciplines like sports and academics.
This kind of competition drove pupils to always be at their best so that they could be counted among top-performing schools in different disciplines.
This defines healthy competition, a rivalry underlined by brotherhood or sisterhood, a competition that makes pupils thrive to be at their best.
Such a culture lays a perfect foundation in the lives of the learners as they take that competitive spirit and apply it as they grow to become leaders in society.
We condemn this negative rivalry that breeds violence that has led to the death of Wayne and we are sure there could be other violent encounters where learners were injured but went unreported.
Residents living within the vicinity of the schools have told how, at different times, they have been forced out of their homes to either break up fights or rescue a pupil from being assaulted by those from a rival school.
Some have gone to the extent of engaging school authorities at one of the schools who, sadly, expressed indifference to the situation.
It is in this light that we urge the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to launch a full-scale investigation into the issue of gang violence in schools to come up with a lasting solution.
Surely we can’t have schools, meant to be incubators for future leaders, turning into outposts of brute violence leading to the death of pupils.
The probe should not, however, be limited to Founders High School but should be spread to all schools in both low and high-density suburbs that have gained notoriety for gang violence.
Parents also have a role to play in not only monitoring that their children do not carry weapons to school but also emphasise to them that school is for learning and self-development and not arenas of bullying and violence.
Schools must also quickly engage the police to intervene in cases of violence between the pupils and also consider rolling out campaigns against inter or even intra-school violence.
Online Reporter