TellZim Reporter
Reports that Riverton Academy has
opened its doors for pupils some two weeks before the official dates has surprised
many people, with some parents saying the rules were not being applied evenly.
Some Riverton Academy pupils in
examination classes are said to be already settled at the school and are conducting
lessons.
Parents who spoke to TellZim News
said they were concerned that their own children in other private schools were
losing out.
“If Riverton was allowed to
reopen, why can’t other schools do what is required for them to be allowed to
open early? It now feels like I enrolled my child at the wrong school,” said one
parent with a daughter at a different private school.
Another parent, however, felt it
was unwise to reopen the school when everybody else remained shut as it
promoted a culture of impunity.
“I thought the lockdown applied
uniformly to all and sundry so it is surprising that some schools are already
up and running. It won’t end well if we
are to have an outbreak of coronavirus at the school,” said the parent.
Riverton Academy board
chairperson Philemon Mutangiri, however, rubbished the reports as social media
gossip, saying his school had only allowed children who came to register for
their final examinations.
“Those reports are all social
media falsehoods. We only had pupils registering for their final exams and some
of them met their teachers and asked questions. You can’t expect pupils not to
ask questions and get clarifications from their teachers if they got an
opportunity to do so,” said Mutangiri.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director
(PED) Zedius Chitiga said he had not authorised any school to open outside of
the stipulated dates.
“We expect schools to open on 28
July for examination classes only. I will
investigate to get to the bottom of the matter,” said Chitiga.
