By William Milasi
Zhombe parliamentarian Edmore Samambwa has said violence against teachers by learners in some Zhombe schools has reached alarming levels.
So bad is the situation that the legislator is now calling for the restoration of corporal punishment in schools.
He added that rampant indiscipline is contributing to zero percent pass rates in some schools in Zhombe.
“It’s very disturbing that in some of our schools in Zhombe we are still registering zero percent pass rates. One of the reasons why we have such a sad situation is that our learners are dropping out of school for gold panning they don’t see value in education. When they reach a certain age they just abandon their studies and follow the gold trek. The net effect of such situations is that we see the learners failing in their studies. The net effect is that we are losing an entire generation to ignorance,” he said.
Samambwa added that violence in schools is also another contributory factor.
“In recent times we are now witnessing a disturbing rising trend of violence in our schools. Our learners who undertake these gold panning activities adopt violent tendencies that they might have picked in the mining pits to schools. Invariably, we have seen learners bringing all sorts of weapons such as catapults, machetes, knobkerries, and spears amongst other weapons,” he said.
The lawmaker believes the removal of corporal punishment has greatly contributed to a decline in moral standards in schools.
“I am unapologetic in stating that the indiscipline we are witnessing is caused by the removal of corporal punishment in our schools. Our schools are now teeming grounds of hooliganism and that can’t be tolerated we must restore corporal punishment,” he said.
Consequently, Samambwa said teachers have now fallen victim to such hooliganism.
“We have situations where teachers are now being attacked by these thugs. Teachers are defenseless, and their only hope will be seeking police protection and that cannot be tolerated,” he said.
Meanwhile, Samambwa has said he is going to continue with infrastructural development programs such as the electrification of schools.
“The moment we get our schools to be electrified it means that we will have equalized education. It means that learners from the rural areas will be able to compete with learners from towns and cities,” he said.
