The Chronicle

BULAWAYO, Saturday, March 20, 1993 — Hotsitting and lack of textbooks are among factors which have contributed to poor O-Level results at most secondary schools in Bulawayo’s western suburbs, according to headmasters.

Headmasters interviewed said hot-sitting did not give teachers enough time to teach children as it did not allow for supervised study periods.

Most schools in the western suburbs reportedly achieved less than 20 percent pass rate in the 1992 O-Level examinations.

The schools include Amhlope, Nketa, Nkulumane, Entumbane, Njube, Masotsha, Ihlathi, Emakhandeni, Pumula and Magwegwe secondary schools, most of which were opened after independence. Older schools such as Msiteli and Luveve high schools were also reported to have performed poorly in the 1992 examinations.

The headmaster of Amhlophe Scondary School, Mr Luke Siziba, said: “The library is virtually empty. Even stationery is in short supply and the children have to share textbooks, sometimes as many as four per book”.

Mr Siziba said schools could organize study periods on the premises as children who came in the morning had to go home after five hours to give room to children coming for the afternoon sessions.

He said his school’s enrolment was made up of a large number of pupils who had performed poorly at primary school and that it had consequently attained a 16 percent pass rate in the 1992 examinations.