Teachers Flee Terror In Rural Schools
- From: Zvakanaka <lalapansi@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 06:47:46 +0200
Teachers Flee Terror In Rural Schools
Zim Standard
Local
Saturday, 10 May 2008 19:09
WHEN Tendai Munda* was called to the high table, he saw it as a
gesture of respect from the war veterans who had called an urgent meeting at
his school.
He was a respected senior teacher at the school and the surrounding
area of Chikwaka in Murehwa, about 50km north-east of Harare.
The dignity with which Munda walked to the front soon melted like
morning dew when he was branded "a traitor" of the liberation struggle, bent
on reversing the gains of the hard-won independence.
"One of them grabbed me by the collar and threw me to the ground, in
front of my pupils and their parents," Munda said last week in Harare, to
which he fled.
"I was ordered to openly declare my allegiance to Zanu PF, sing their
songs and denounce MDC as a puppet party of the West."
Munda’s crime: he campaigned for the MDC before the 29 March
elections.
After this ordeal, he was ordered to dig a small hole, spit into it,
and then fill it up — a sign of repentance.
"That same night I fled to Harare," he said.
Munda’s ordeal is a microcosm of the nightmare teachers in rural areas
endure at the hands of suspected war veterans and Zanu PF youth militia.
On Wednesday, The Standard visited a number of trouble spots in
Murehwa, where teachers fled schools after threats by war veterans.
The teachers, asking not to be named, said tension mounted after a
meeting called by the war veterans a fortnight ago.
At Gosha primary school near Juru growth point, two teachers fled to
Harare.
They are said to have been threatened by war veterans and youth
militia, camped at the centre.
They are reported to drive around in a light blue Mitsubishi truck.
Another teacher, who has since fled to Harare, said the war veterans
threatened to throw him in a tank filled with acid if he was seen in the
area again because "I was a bad influence to society".
This news crew found the war veterans seated in the car at Juru Growth
Point, drinking beer at mid-day. They looked energetic and too young to have
been in a war which started in earnest in 1975.
At nearby Kadyamadare School, teachers quickly rushed into their
classrooms when they saw an unfamiliar car pulling in at the school gate.
The teachers refused to talk to The Standard but some pupils and
villagers who attended the meeting confirmed their teachers were humiliated
and threatened in their presence.
One teacher said: "I would not advise you to even look at the results.
Just leave. You will create problems for us."
Kadyamadare School was used as a polling station during the March
elections and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won by a wide margin.
"They (war vets) blame teachers for that," said one villager.
A headmaster in Murehwa, also asking not to be named, said teachers
were requesting for emergency transfers as they could not risk their lives
by returning to the school.
Parents said they were disappointed at the manner in which the war
veterans and soldiers were treating teachers.
A Mr Mangwana said teachers had fled the schools leaving children with
no one to teach them.
"We are not only destroying the education system but the future of our
children," he said. "President Robert Mugabe must just call off this
violence."
Teachers’ unions have warned teachers in areas of high political
violence not to return to schools until their safety is guaranteed.
Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general
Raymond Majongwe said more 400 schools have closed down countrywide.
He said teachers were most at risk in Mashonaland East, Central and
West and Manicaland provinces.
"We have quite a large number of teachers who have been beaten up," he
said. "Some are receiving medical help from non-governmental organisations."
Even the usually pro-Mugabe Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) has
said it was concerned about the safety of its members.
Zimta president Peter Mabande said: "We know teachers are being
harassed and this is affecting the provision of quality education. However,
in the event the teachers realise their lives are in danger they should get
away from those places."
According to figures compiled by the PTUZ more than 133 teachers have
been assaulted while 1 718 have fled from their schools since the elections.
The union said 33 teachers were forced to pay money, goats and cattle
as "repentance fees" to war veterans and youth militia to avoid being
tortured.
Majongwe appealed to the government to guarantee the safety of
teachers or face a crisis in the education sector.
Outgoing Minister of Education, Sports and Culture, Aeneas Chigwedere,
said his ministry was addressing the problem.
But he accused both the MDC and Zanu PF of perpetrating terror against
teachers in rural areas.
"We know that there are teachers who are being harassed especially in
Mashonaland East and West, and Manicaland provinces. The two parties are
both to blame as they are the ones harassing school teachers."
Efforts to get a comment from police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena
were in vain as he was not answering calls. His deputy Andrew Phiri said
Bvudzijena was the only one who could comment.
*Real name of the school teacher withheld for security reasons.
By Sandra Mandizvidza and Caiphas Chimhete
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