Teacher cohabits with pupil

Munyaradzi Musiiwa, Midlands Correspondent
PARENTS and villagers in Silobela in Kwekwe are up in arms with a teacher at Musilahove Secondary School who is allegedly cohabiting with a 16-year-old Ordinary Level pupil from the same school whom he impregnated.

Sunday Life has it in good authority that Chief Malisa and Silobela representative in the National Assembly Manoki Mpofu have alerted both the police and the ministry authorities.

A police source told Sunday Life that the matter was reported to Silobela Police Station and police informed parents and the traditional leader that the child was above 16 years therefore the police cannot institute legal proceedings against the teacher but advised them to approach the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.

“Parents of pupils at Musilahove Secondary School and Chief Malisa came to the police and reported the matter. It was later established that the child is over 16 therefore we could not arrest him. We suggested that they take the matter to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education,” said the source.

Chief Malisa confirmed the incident saying he approached the headmaster of the school a Mr Ndebele to report the matter to the ministry authorities but nothing has been done.

“We are not happy with what a teacher at Musilahove is doing. He is cohabiting with a 16-year-old girl at the school and nothing has been done. The headmaster is still to take action against the teacher. As the community we reported the matter to the police but they told us that the law was still to be changed and that a 16-year-old can consent to sex and can get married.

We feel this is child abuse and that as a teacher someone whom young people look up to for protection and advice preys on the same children,” he said.

Chief Malisa said: “We are not happy with the manner it is being dealt with by the ministry because we feel they should take action against the teacher,” he said.

MP Mpofu also confirmed that the matter was reported to him by the traditional leaders but was yet to get full details on the issue.

“I received a report to the effect that a teacher was cohabiting with a 16-year-old girl. This is disturbing news because we do not expect someone who is educated to that level to be doing things that he knows Parliament is advocating against,” he said.

Midlands provincial education director Mrs Agnes Gudo confirmed that the ministry had received a report that one of the teachers was cohabiting with a pupil.

“We were alerted by Sunday News last week (two weeks ago) that there was a teacher cohabiting with a pupil after he allegedly impregnated her. We then sent a team to investigate the matter and the teacher fled the school when he heard that he was being investigated. He then resigned and never reported for duty at the school,” she said.