By Sithandweyinkosi Mpofu

The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Torerai Moyo has said that his ministry has begun providing counseling support to teachers and pupils at Munyati Primary School struggling in the aftermath of an accident that claimed the lives of five members of staff last month.

Minister Moyo made the remarks at the school as he passed his condolences last week. Munyati Primary School lost five teachers in a fatal car accident recently, plunging the school and community at large into mourning.

The five teachers, Tsungirirai Joe (57), Mitchell Maticha (22), Sithabile Nthando Moyo (33), Everjoice Ngwenya (38) and Lesley Mugwidi died on 15 March 2024 when a Toyota Aqua they were travelling in collided head on with a truck at Sherwood turn off.

According to sources pupils and teachers at the school were still coming to terms with the loss hence government’s intervention to offer psychological support.

“This is a great loss not just for Munyati but for the education sector as a whole. These teachers were dedicated to molding young minds and will be dearly missed. The ministry has also began offering counseling services to teachers and pupils so that they can be able to cope with the tragedy,” he said.

Minister Moyo also said they are providing financial support to the families of the deceased.

“Financial assistance will also be given to the deceased teachers’ families to help support them through this difficult time since these teachers were breadwinners,” he said.

Kwekwe District Schools Inspector Herbert Maziriri said counseling has since commenced at the school.

“We have since sent teams from our ministry together with the church, community leaders and other organizations to offer psycho support to the students and teachers and community at large. We will continue with these services until the situation normalizes,” he said.

Minister Torerai Moyo said replacement teachers will be deployed, with priority given to experienced educators. However, he acknowledged the challenge of filling the space left by the teachers who lost their lives.

“The ministry will help in the deployment of teachers in the school and we arw looking for highly experienced and highly qualified teachers to fill im the gaps, said Moyo.

He also said that the deceased teachers were very experienced teachers and they played an important role in the lives of the pupils.