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H-Metro Reporter
ELITE private boys’ school St John’s College has said it will reimburse school fees paid for a Form Two learner it expelled last month before the Government intervened and ruled the move to have been irregular.
This has left the 14-year-old boy and his parents in limbo as schools reopen for the third term on Tuesday.
The school’s insistence on excluding the boy from classes has now set the stage for a legal battle between the feuding parties.
St John’s also risks sanctions from the Government after disregarding a directive from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to take back the learner who was expelled early August.
Based on the Government’s stance communicated on August 19 that the boy must be reinstated, the parents went on to deposit full school fees and levies for the third term.
St John’s stuck to its guns and last Tuesday, advised through lawyers Gill, Godlonton and Gerrans that they would not allow the boy into the school premises when schools reopened on September 10.
Three days later, Musengi and Sigauke Legal Practitioners wrote back to the school stating that they expected their clients’ son to resume classes as per the Government position.
“We refer to your letter dated 3rd September 2024 and served on 4th September 2024.
“You will recall that on 5 August 2024, your client through Gavin Nyawata, wrote an email to ours in the following words: “The matter is now with the Ministry of Education which has ultimate jurisdiction”.
“To our knowledge, the Ministry has not sanctioned any purported expulsion of our clients’ son.
“As such, our clients’ son will attend school as usual cometh the day of opening.
“Surely, it is not your client’s intention to manhandle a 14-year-old boy, or is it?” wrote Musengi and Sigauke.
St John’s College has defied an order from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for it to re-enrol the boy on the basis that the private school had not followed laid down Government procedures.
The saga unfolded from August 1 when the learner was expelled from one of the country’s most elite private boys’ schools after he lent a mobile phone to a classmate and his girlfriend from another school, to take inappropriate pictures which showed the juveniles in close contact at a pizzeria.
The boy’s aggrieved parents challenged the expulsion as they felt the punishment was too harsh for what they deemed to be a misdemeanour, especially considering that their son was not himself appearing in the photographs.
Another point of contention was that the learner was expelled without the convening of a disciplinary hearing.
When the parents sought to engage the school for a review of the case, St John’s said the matter had been referred to the Ministry for determination of the boy’s fate.
The school declined to engage the parents directly and appointed Gill, Godlonton and Gerrans to act on its behalf while the parents in turn engaged Musengi and Sigauke.
After St John’s referred the matter to the Ministry on August 9, the Government wrote back on August 19 saying the learner had been improperly expelled as the school did not follow laid down regulations.
Despite the school earlier indicating that it was awaiting the Ministry’s final position on the matter, the parents were baffled when St John’s defied the Government’s recommendation for the learner’s reinstatement.
Through its legal representatives, the school this time claimed the boy had been expelled on the basis that his father had violated a contract signed in 2022.
The school said the learner’s father had made threats to its staff in the aftermath of the expulsion and had therefore, violated the terms of the contract.
This prompted the Ministry to write back to the school on Tuesday, September 3, requesting a copy of the contract.
“We acknowledge receipt of your minute dated August 30, 2024. We have perused the attached documents and we note that your client’s child was expelled from school in terms of a contract entered between your client and the school on July 26, 2022.
“We do therefore, kindly request for a copy of the aforementioned contract to enable us to advise accordingly. Thus the child was not expelled in terms of P35 which is administered by our Ministry,” wrote the Harare Metroplitan Province Education Director, Mr Joram Mupunza.
“Further, you indicated in your letter that you attached a letter of expulsion by the school. However from the documents you sent to us, that letter is not attached.
“May I take this opportunity to inform you that we responded to the application by the college to expel your client’s child in terms of provisions of P35.”
Online Reporter