A teacher at Mushavhi Secondary School in Bikita, Masvingo Province, has stirred up controversy after reportedly asking an entire class to spit on a piece of paper during a lesson in the name of teaching values.
According to parents and learners who spoke to TellZim News, the incident left many confused and concerned. Their main worry is on what happened to the saliva-covered paper after the lesson.
The teacher was said to be discussing issues around self-control and self-preservation, especially for girls. To get the point across, she allegedly had students spit on a clean sheet of paper, with only two refusing, before folding it and asking someone to write on it. One student declined, understandably put off by the obvious contamination.
The teacher then reportedly used the exercise as a metaphor, comparing the soiled paper to how society views those who engage in risky behavior. She later took the paper outside and, according to some students, tossed it behind the toilets.
While the teacher told TellZim she disposed of it in front of several learners, the act still left parents uneasy about both hygiene and teaching methods. Some students even reported the matter to other staff members, but it seems nothing was done.
Education officials have apparently visited the school several times since the incident, but the issue hasn’t been formally addressed. One of the learners said:
We were shocked that the matter seemed to have died within the school premises because it was never taken up. When we saw education officials visiting the school, we thought they had come for the matter, but we were shocked to learn they had come for another case involving the teacher and the head, not ours.
A concerned parent, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their children, called for a thorough investigation into the teacher’s methods. The parent said:
The teacher is new at the school, she came late last year, and we have never heard of such a method of teaching.
She came from college to this school, and we want the education officials to investigate her case and hear if her way of teaching is accepted.
Some parents wondered why the teacher insisted on disposing of the paper herself when the classroom was full of learners she could’ve easily asked to do it instead. Said a parent:
Why didn’t she end one of the leaners to dispose the paper, her saliva were not there so why was she not disgusted by the leaners’ saliva.
More: TellZim News
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