Some parents unhappy with U-Tech’s sports training

BIG BEND - Limping or aching muscles are just some of the complaints some U-Tech pupils have allegedly been reporting to their parents.

U-Tech College is situated in Big Bend and is one of the many upmarket schools scattered around the country. It provides education to high school scholars for both boarding and day scholars. The school not only provides lessons for the local curriculum, but also the South African one.

Also worth noting is that just like many schools around the country, pupils are expected to participate in sporting activities. All the pupils are expected to participate in these activities as per the college’s requirement.

However, some parents have expressed concern about their children being subjected to activities they described as harsh. They also said the training was so tough that their children likened it to ‘military or police training’.

LImpInG

*Joko, a parent who did not want to be mentioned, said his child also complained about the training. Joko said the pupil once arrived home limping. “This is not right,” he said. He said such tough training could affect their children not to like school.

Joko also said the reason he opted to take his child to U-Tech College was that he believed that the school was dedicated to ensuring their pupils passed. He said, however, that he was disappointed that the school had harsh sporting activities for the pupils.

Another pupil is also said to have been taken to a health facility after complaining of feeling weak. This was said to have happened after the pupil had participated in sporting activities that included athletics.

The pupil is said to have told parents that pupils at the school are made to run around a soccer field eight times as a way of warming up. This is said to also have angered some parents. “How can children be subjected to that?” a parent asked.

Meanwhile, when the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Education and Training was asked if there was a standard criteria for supporting activities in schools, he said there was none specific.

However, he also said parents had the right to remove their children from schools if they did not agree with the kind of sport activities in the school. However, he said they should give the school the reasons why they would remove their pupils from the school.

*Not real name to protect minors.