Mzingwane High headmaster accused of running down the school

MZINGWANE High School headmaster Moroka Magaya was at the weekend grilled by parents who accused him of running down the school.

The parents convened a meeting with the school's authorities on Saturday in Bulawayo where they aired their grievances.

Magaya was accused of presiding over falling standards at the Matabeleland South school, with parents expressing anger over poor pass rates.

"We have heard about other developments that have taken place at the school, but our main concern is the education of our children because they are not learning anything. We would like to know why," charged one of the parents.

"Mzingwane has lost its reputation and we need our children to learn. It is not even in the top 100 in both 2013 'A' Level and 'O' Level examination results.

"Can Magaya explain this and tell us why his teachers are not doing their job?

"Form 4 students spent the whole term without learning and he should explain why."

However, Magaya defended his track record saying although the school faced challenges, it was not true that it was not being run professionally.

"It is not true that Mzingwane is not among the top 100. It is there. We had a problem with a Maths teacher who fell sick and we tried to hire another one to help. The situation is better now," he said.

His response failed to calm down the parents who said the school must clean up its image.

This followed reports last month that teachers at the school had embarked on a go-slow protesting against the government's move to ban extra lessons and incentives.

But the school's development committee chairman Jasper Mutambara said the disputes had been settled and things were back to normal.