News / National
Pupil barred from exam over braids
07 Nov 2015 at 07:07hrs | Views
A GEORGE STARK, Harare, Form Four pupil was barred from writing a Zimsec Commerce Paper 2 examination last Wednesday on account of her braided hair.
Cynthia Johannes, candidate number 3074, was ordered out of the examination room by the school head Ms Sikhatile Mhlanga.
The Herald said it is reliably informed that Ms Mhlanga ordered Johannes to remove her braids as other pupils were entering the examination room, but she refused.
Ms Mhlanga then barred her from sitting for the examination.
Two other pupils, who had the same hairstyle, complied and were allowed to write the examination 15 minutes after the stipulated time.
There was a scuffle between Ms Mhlanga and Johannes as the student tried to force her way into the examination room, sources say.
The school does not allow students the pupils, with the exception of prefects, to plait their hair.
Teachers at the school pleaded with Ms Mhlanga to allow Johannes to write the examination but she would not budge. She had written two examinations earlier with the same hairstyle.
Her mother, Mrs Yolanda Johannes, confirmed the incident in an interview with The Herald yesterday.
She said the decision left her daughter traumatised as she spent the whole day crying.
"My daughter spent the day crying and when I asked her what the problem was, she told me that she was thinking of her late father. I only discovered the truth the next day when the school head invited me to the school," she said.
Mrs Johannes said her daughter later confirmed that the school head had barred her from writing the examination.
"It is sad when school authorities fail to see the importance of having our children sit for examinations in the right state of mind.
"Money is so hard to find these days. Her father died and I survive on doing part-time jobs. I was happy when I managed to raise money for my daughter to write six subjects even though she was meant to sit for eight. Now it means she is left with five," she said. "School heads need to show their understanding on certain situations that can affect our children's future for a lifetime."
Mrs Mhlanga denied the allegations yesterday.
"Cynthia Johannes voluntarily withdrew from our school but registered for her examinations with us. However, neither I nor the teachers remembered her. She had to re-introduce herself. And so on the day in question, in addition to her hair issue, she did not have a national ID and a statement of entry thereby failing to meet Zimsec's requirements.
"We even told her that Zimsec does not allow us to admit her for the examination and we would be arrested if we did so. Zimsec says a pupil without such documents may not sit for an examination. But if she had these documents on her person, she would have sat for the examination," said Ms Mhlanga before abruptly hanging up her phone.
This George Stark incident comes hard on the heels of a similar incident at Mweyamutsvene Secondary School in Bocha where 17-year-old Belvin Chibi was barred from sitting his third examination over school shoes.
The student had already missed two examinations after the headmaster's wife, Mrs Nyasha Rubende, barred him from the examination room because he had no school shoes.
Yesterday he did not write English Paper 2. Mrs Rubende is a teacher at the school, while her husband, Mr Abel Zebron Rubende is the headmaster. The Catholic Church yesterday expressed shock at the incident amid indications Mr Rubende had offered to pay exam fees for him to sit for the June 2016 examinations.
The boy lives with his grandmother in the poverty-stricken Bocha area of Manicaland Province.
Narrating his ordeal to The Herald, Chibi said: "I do not have school shoes and so I borrowed a pair of shoes from a well-wisher. It was not a school shoe. As I entered the examination room, Mrs Rubende barred me. I pleaded with her but she would not listen. I was left with no option but to go back home," he said.
Meanwhile, The Herald has been inundated with calls from organisations and well-wishers touched by Chibi's plight who wanted to assist the boy. The callers included lawyers who felt Chibi's rights had been violated.
Some turned to The Herald website to express their anger.
"I had my first pair of shoes when I was in Form 2 while at an 'Upper Top' in Runde Rural, Zvishavane. My grandmother would brew and sell 'doro rendari' and also sell salted peanuts to raise my school fees.
"I would also do piece jobs by tilling other people's fields to remain in school. I'm sure this is the story for most people in rural Zimbabwe where each day is a struggle to survive. All that suffering made me to resolve never to have my children have my kind of background and today have already attained a Masters degree in the Sciences.
"Please Mr Headmaster, your wife and priests at Mweyamutsvene have a heart and give this young boy a chance. You are destroying a whole generation and generations to come by denying this boy a right to education on the silly reason that they do not have shoes.
"This is the only chance for this boy to get out of poverty and be able to buy himself a decent pair of shoes one day. What do you intend to achieve by denying him this chance?", wrote one reader who identified himself as Jabu, echoing the views of many.
Cynthia Johannes, candidate number 3074, was ordered out of the examination room by the school head Ms Sikhatile Mhlanga.
The Herald said it is reliably informed that Ms Mhlanga ordered Johannes to remove her braids as other pupils were entering the examination room, but she refused.
Ms Mhlanga then barred her from sitting for the examination.
Two other pupils, who had the same hairstyle, complied and were allowed to write the examination 15 minutes after the stipulated time.
There was a scuffle between Ms Mhlanga and Johannes as the student tried to force her way into the examination room, sources say.
The school does not allow students the pupils, with the exception of prefects, to plait their hair.
Teachers at the school pleaded with Ms Mhlanga to allow Johannes to write the examination but she would not budge. She had written two examinations earlier with the same hairstyle.
Her mother, Mrs Yolanda Johannes, confirmed the incident in an interview with The Herald yesterday.
She said the decision left her daughter traumatised as she spent the whole day crying.
"My daughter spent the day crying and when I asked her what the problem was, she told me that she was thinking of her late father. I only discovered the truth the next day when the school head invited me to the school," she said.
Mrs Johannes said her daughter later confirmed that the school head had barred her from writing the examination.
"It is sad when school authorities fail to see the importance of having our children sit for examinations in the right state of mind.
"Money is so hard to find these days. Her father died and I survive on doing part-time jobs. I was happy when I managed to raise money for my daughter to write six subjects even though she was meant to sit for eight. Now it means she is left with five," she said. "School heads need to show their understanding on certain situations that can affect our children's future for a lifetime."
"Cynthia Johannes voluntarily withdrew from our school but registered for her examinations with us. However, neither I nor the teachers remembered her. She had to re-introduce herself. And so on the day in question, in addition to her hair issue, she did not have a national ID and a statement of entry thereby failing to meet Zimsec's requirements.
"We even told her that Zimsec does not allow us to admit her for the examination and we would be arrested if we did so. Zimsec says a pupil without such documents may not sit for an examination. But if she had these documents on her person, she would have sat for the examination," said Ms Mhlanga before abruptly hanging up her phone.
This George Stark incident comes hard on the heels of a similar incident at Mweyamutsvene Secondary School in Bocha where 17-year-old Belvin Chibi was barred from sitting his third examination over school shoes.
The student had already missed two examinations after the headmaster's wife, Mrs Nyasha Rubende, barred him from the examination room because he had no school shoes.
Yesterday he did not write English Paper 2. Mrs Rubende is a teacher at the school, while her husband, Mr Abel Zebron Rubende is the headmaster. The Catholic Church yesterday expressed shock at the incident amid indications Mr Rubende had offered to pay exam fees for him to sit for the June 2016 examinations.
The boy lives with his grandmother in the poverty-stricken Bocha area of Manicaland Province.
Narrating his ordeal to The Herald, Chibi said: "I do not have school shoes and so I borrowed a pair of shoes from a well-wisher. It was not a school shoe. As I entered the examination room, Mrs Rubende barred me. I pleaded with her but she would not listen. I was left with no option but to go back home," he said.
Meanwhile, The Herald has been inundated with calls from organisations and well-wishers touched by Chibi's plight who wanted to assist the boy. The callers included lawyers who felt Chibi's rights had been violated.
Some turned to The Herald website to express their anger.
"I had my first pair of shoes when I was in Form 2 while at an 'Upper Top' in Runde Rural, Zvishavane. My grandmother would brew and sell 'doro rendari' and also sell salted peanuts to raise my school fees.
"I would also do piece jobs by tilling other people's fields to remain in school. I'm sure this is the story for most people in rural Zimbabwe where each day is a struggle to survive. All that suffering made me to resolve never to have my children have my kind of background and today have already attained a Masters degree in the Sciences.
"Please Mr Headmaster, your wife and priests at Mweyamutsvene have a heart and give this young boy a chance. You are destroying a whole generation and generations to come by denying this boy a right to education on the silly reason that they do not have shoes.
"This is the only chance for this boy to get out of poverty and be able to buy himself a decent pair of shoes one day. What do you intend to achieve by denying him this chance?", wrote one reader who identified himself as Jabu, echoing the views of many.
Source - the herald
