adminMarvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should get tough on school heads who fail to produce good examination results, a senior official has said. The Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Matabeleland South, Cde Abedinico Ncube, told Chronicle yesterday that lack of supervision was the major cause of poor results. He accused some school heads of being irresponsible and vowed to seek audience with Education Minister Cde Lazarus Dokora for an explanation concerning six Gwanda schools that recorded zero percent passes in last year’s Grade Seven examination.
“I have noted that some heads of schools are irresponsible.
“The head of a school is the only manager in the running of school affairs. He or she has the responsibility to supervise teachers and make sure they deliver as expected,” said Cde Ncube.
“It has come to my attention that some teachers only attend to their classes only three days of the week instead of five. I don’t want to blame the DEOs (District Education Officers).”
Cde Ncube said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should improve on supervision of schools.
“The Ministry needs to be tough on these irresponsible school heads,” said Cde Ncube.
At a recent Gwanda District full Council meeting, councillors also blamed lack of supervision and teacher absenteeism as major factors behind poor results.
“We wonder whether some schools are ever supervised because we see some school heads travelling on a daily basis,” said one of the councillors.
Concern has also been raised regarding teacher recruitment patterns with some saying teachers should master the local languages for pupils to do well.
In Gwanda District, Glass Block 2, Gobadema, Matshetsheni, Ngoma, Tshongwe and Zelezele Primary Schools recorded zero percent pass rates for the 2013 Grade Seven examinations.
It has also emerged that Matabeleland South dropped seven percent in 2013 Advanced level passes compared to 2012.
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