News / Local
Eveline High School faces closure
02 Apr 2014 at 07:06hrs | Views
Eveline Girls High School in Bulawayo is facing closure as it is operating without potable water after the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) disconnected supplies to the government institution over a $500 000 water debt.
At an Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the school's hall on Saturday, where The Zimbabwe Mail was also in attendance, it was revealed that the school coffers had run dry and that all afternoon lessons that previously ended at 4pm had been suspended.
Presenting a report to parents who attended the AGM, the acting head, only identified as Ncube, said school activities had been affected by lack of water at the school.
Ncube took over from the former head, Rosemary Moyo, whose recent promotion to the provincial offices raised eyebrows as some felt it was a way of shielding her from prosecution over alleged abuse of school funds.
"Our enrolment currently stands at 1 035 of which 118 are borders. Our enrolment went down this year because we are operating with only two out of the three hostels due to high water and electricity bills. We did this as a cost cutting measure," she said.
Pupils are currently using borehole water, also condemned for consumption by a BCC inspectors who visited the school last year.
And the school runs the risk of being closed as according to city bylaws, no public institution providing services to people should run without running water.
In the meeting, parents raised concerns that their children now knocked off earlier and spent the day roaming the streets in the central business district only to go home after 4pm because parents were not informed that lessons now ended at 1.25pm, raising issues of discipline.
"All students now knock off at 1.25 pm because there will be no water and also because we want to cut down our water bills," she said.
The school head told parents that although the school had introduced cost cutting measures to limit the bill, it was still too high and there were fears that there might be an underground leakage that was going unnoticed.
"While the school has made a payment plan for water and electricity, the water bill is still too high and letters have since been written to public works and the BCC to carry out investigations on the underground pipes to see if there are leakages," she said.
Meanwhile the treasurer's report presented to parents shows that school expenses stood at $273 590 last year against an income of $276 067 whilst debt collectors managed to collect only $9 933 from the $177 869 owed by parents.
At an Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the school's hall on Saturday, where The Zimbabwe Mail was also in attendance, it was revealed that the school coffers had run dry and that all afternoon lessons that previously ended at 4pm had been suspended.
Presenting a report to parents who attended the AGM, the acting head, only identified as Ncube, said school activities had been affected by lack of water at the school.
Ncube took over from the former head, Rosemary Moyo, whose recent promotion to the provincial offices raised eyebrows as some felt it was a way of shielding her from prosecution over alleged abuse of school funds.
"Our enrolment currently stands at 1 035 of which 118 are borders. Our enrolment went down this year because we are operating with only two out of the three hostels due to high water and electricity bills. We did this as a cost cutting measure," she said.
Pupils are currently using borehole water, also condemned for consumption by a BCC inspectors who visited the school last year.
And the school runs the risk of being closed as according to city bylaws, no public institution providing services to people should run without running water.
In the meeting, parents raised concerns that their children now knocked off earlier and spent the day roaming the streets in the central business district only to go home after 4pm because parents were not informed that lessons now ended at 1.25pm, raising issues of discipline.
"All students now knock off at 1.25 pm because there will be no water and also because we want to cut down our water bills," she said.
The school head told parents that although the school had introduced cost cutting measures to limit the bill, it was still too high and there were fears that there might be an underground leakage that was going unnoticed.
"While the school has made a payment plan for water and electricity, the water bill is still too high and letters have since been written to public works and the BCC to carry out investigations on the underground pipes to see if there are leakages," she said.
Meanwhile the treasurer's report presented to parents shows that school expenses stood at $273 590 last year against an income of $276 067 whilst debt collectors managed to collect only $9 933 from the $177 869 owed by parents.
Source - Zim Mail
