Tsiga Secondary headmaster divides school with holiday lessons money

TellZim Reporter

ZAKA - There are serious divisions at Tsiga Secondary School after the school head divided the money raised through April holiday lessons among all teachers including those who refused to teach during the holidays.

Sources said the school head Godfrey Tinarwo and some teachers ganged up and refused to accept the RTGS$20 per child April holidays fees saying it was too little for them.

Together with a building studies teacher Atmore Musunga and senior lady Mawana who teaches fashion and fabrics, Tinarwo felt $20 was not worth the trouble and stayed away from the holiday lessons.

Other teachers, however, accepted the offer and taught pupils during the holidays but only for them to be later on forced to share the proceeds of their hard work with the teachers who rejected the offer.

“The teachers who came to teach during the holidays are very unhappy with the headmaster’s decision to divide the money among everybody including those who refused to come for holiday lessons. I think the aggrieved teachers are justified because the headmaster acted corruptly. How then do you encourage hard work and commitment if those who are choosy are rewarded the same way as those who want only the best for children,” said a source.

Another source said after noticing that many children had paid up for holiday lessons resulting in a substantial amount of money being raised, the choosy teachers became greedy and sought to have a share.

“They went to the headmaster and struck a suspicious deal that allowed them to provide their own extra lessons over the weekend and be paid from the holiday lessons money. It is ridiculous because they were paid the money upfront before they had even worked for it. There is so much grievances among the good teachers and it’s affecting the children. Policy does not even allow teachers to be paid for weekend lessons.

“The headmaster is mismanaging the school and creating divisions through his favouritism and corruption. Since he took over from Fanuel Mukokoromba, the school began to decline and many teachers are seeking transfers.

TellZim News managed to contact some of the disgruntled teachers who refused to speak about the issue saying they feared victimisation.

Tinarwo, however, refuted the allegations as malicious, claiming there was unity at the school and that the holiday lessons went on smoothly.

“My teachers and I work very well together. Those allegations are not emanating from my teachers. I also personally do not teach any ‘O’ level class so I cannot take the money,” said Tinarwo.

Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedius Chitiga said the report was concerning and promised to make an investigation and deal with it.

“We haven’t received that report yet but we will do our own investigations. I can assure you that if I receive the case, we will deal with it in the proper manner,” said Chitiga.