Civic leader appeals to govt. upgrade school

Civic leader appeals to govt. upgrade school

Kapiri Mposhi, July 9, ZANIS – A Civic Leader in Kapiri Mposhi district has appealed government to upgrade one primary school in her ward to a senior secondary school to help absorb a number of pupils qualifying to grade ten.

Chibwelelo Ward Councilor, Dorothy Mambwe said her ward only has basic schools offering education to the pupils in the area.

Ms. Mambwe said because of the distances involved to the nearest secondary schools most pupils fall-off from attending high school education upon being selected.

She said the nearest secondary school is situated over 20 Kilometers away and that most pupils fail to attend secondary education because of the long distances involved.

The Councilor also said some parents are forced to rent houses for their children near the available day secondary schools in the district to prevent their children from covering long distances on a daily basis.

She stated that this has resulted in the children engaging in illicit activities such as early sex and beer drinking which are exposing them to contracting sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. 

Ms. Mambwe said most girl children are also dropping out of school due to early pregnancies which they are getting while staying alone in the rented houses.    

“I’m appealing to government to consider upgrading one of our basic schools into a high school to absorb children who are qualifying to go to senior secondary school… most pupils whose parents are renting houses near some secondary schools are contracting HIV/AIDS and the girls are getting pregnant because of lack of supervision from their parents,” Ms. Mambwe said.

The Councilor suggested that the government upgrades Sungula basic school into a high school since the school has now been connected to the national electricity grid through the Rural Electrification Master Plan (REMP) project.

“Since Sungula Basic has electricity now we want government to upgrade it to a secondary school because it will be easier to install and run laboratories at this school,” Ms. Mambwe said.

And Ms. Mambwe has bemoaned the rampant early marriages and pregnancies amongst most girl children being witnessed in her area.

The councilor stated that girl children as young as 13 years old are being married off by their parents instead of allowing them to attend school.

Ms. Mambwe has appealed to government to intervene and has since invited children rights based Non Government Organizations (NGO) to her ward to educate the people on the topic.