Schools next to beer halls

Faith Temberere, 18 —
Every building or institution has a site where it rightly fits and should be rightly positioned. A college offering academic learning from form 1 to form 6, situated side by side with a beerhall and a shop cannot be good town planning.

These scenarios are however very popular in my community of Chitungwiza and surrounding areas where various colleges are positioned right next to bars. This might seem normal and good for business to the owners and revellers but definitely not to the poor innocent students.

Children have a right to have quality and relevant education, and such kind of scenarios go against that right.

“We are used to such a scenario, and that’s who we are, tato magafa echikoro, hatitombozvitsvage zvese izvo” uttered James an Upper Six student at a certain college situated right beside a beerhall at Zengeza 4 shops popularly known as paGomba.

This improper town planning is a great pathway of breeding or grooming indecent behavior in students attending these colleges or schools. Students are forced and tempted to take drugs and consume alcohol. The environment that surrounds children has a great impact on their personality and behavior. Young girls are at risk of being abused by drunkards as they pass through these beerhall on their way to and from school.

Mrs Maphosa, a teacher at a certain local college, has also forwarded a noise complaint. She often has to cut short her lessons because she cannot compete with the loud volume of different genres of music playing in the nearest bar.

It is our cry to responsible authorities, to look closely into this issue. Not only is it happening in Zengeza but in many parts of Chitungwiza.

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