Govt probes Victoria High
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has set up a team to institute investigations at one of Masvingo’s eminent schools, Victoria High School, amid allegations of maladministration and embezzlement of funds by authorities at the institution.
This comes after parents of children at the school petitioned the ministry to intervene in the wake of plummeting educational standards at the institution which used to be one of the few elite schools in the province.
Parents want the school’s books to be audited as they suspect financial impropriety by authorities and want the school head Mr John Muzamani, who stands accused of presiding over the rot at the institution, dismissed.
Their main tiff with Mr Muzamani is on the deteriorating pass rate at the boarding school located in Masvingo city, which is now faring worse than some remote rural schools in the province.
Masvingo provincial education director Mr Zedious Chitiga confirmed that investigations were underway at Victoria High following an SOS from concerned parents.
“We received complaints from some of the parents over the situation at the school and we have set up a team that will investigate the allegations that have been levelled against the authorities,” he said.
“After investigations have been carried out, the team doing that will produce a report on their findings and we will take the issue from there. It is normal that after a complaint is made investigations are done.”
Mr Muzamani said he had nothing much to say over the allegations levelled against him by parents.
“Is it not it that the parents have already petitioned the PED (Mr Chitiga)?” he said.
“In that case, I have nothing more to say, he will be the best person to comment on the issue.”
Parents have vowed to continue pushing for Mr Muzamani’s ouster, citing a number of holes in the administration of the school.
They alleged that security at the boarding school was also compromised, a situation they said was resulting in students in boarding sneaking out at night, in the process compromising their focus on school work.
Last year, parents of students at Gokomere High School, another highly regarded school which is less than 20km from the city, successfully pushed for the ouster of the then head Mr Stanley Mtsambiwa, who among other charges was accused of cooking up results to project high pass rates for the Catholic-run school over the years.
Mr Mtsambiwa was eventually booted out following sustained pressure from the parents who also accused him of poor administration of one of the most prominent schools in the entire country.