PROTECT OUR TEACHERS
…Don’t make them vulnerable to unruly pupils – Madzimawe
By Adrian Mwanza
TEACHERS need to be protected from delinquent pupils who are prone to insulting them, Senior Chief Madzimawe has said.
In an interview with The Mast, Senior Chief Madzimawe said the recent arrest of five teachers who were trying to discipline a pupil in Senanga District in Western Province had sent shivers down the spines of teachers who were now sceptical about handling unruly pupils.
“For me, I would say teachers need to be protected, they need protection and not a scenario we are seeing now where they are taken to the police for trying to instil discipline,” he said.
Last week, police arrested five teachers from Senanga Day Secondary School after the parents of an unruly pupil they allegedly assaulted in an effort to subdue him filed a criminal complaint against them at the local police station.
Senior Chief Madzimawe said it was sad that the parents rushed to take the matter to the police before engaging the school authorities to get to the bottom of the matter.
He said government should find a way of protecting teachers, warning that failure to do so would be catastrophic to the education sector, which was facing huge challenges already.
“In as much as human rights are cardinal, Zambia is not the same as America and therefore people should not take advantage of their rights to engage in lawlessness,” Senior Chief Madzimawe said.
He said the arrest of the teachers had sent a very wrong narrative as most pupils would start taking advantage of the situation to disrespect their teachers.
“This matter needs to be thoroughly looked at by the authorities because it is going to have a very negative impact on the education system if left unchecked,” Senior Chief Madzimawe said.
“Looking at the video, it is evident that it’s okay for a pupil to be delinquent. It is okay for a pupil to insult his teachers. It looks as if it is now okay and normal in a Zambian set up for insults.”
The arrested of the five teachers has sparked public outrage with members of the public accusing the government of priorotising the rights of learners while disregarding the professional respect and dignity of the teachers.
Some unions have offered to provide legal services to the teachers.
The Ministry of Education has appealed for calm as the case unfolds in the courts of law.
