SANFROSSA MANYINDA writes
@SunZambian
CHURCHES that use government schools as worship centers have come under fire from minister of General Education, David Mabumba who has accused them of vandalizing school property.
Mr Mabumba told the Sun in an interview that the rate at which schools were turned into worship centers was worrying and disturbing.
He said that church leaders failed to control their congregants especially children who played around from vandalizing school property.
He said it was unfair on the part of government as it was spending huge sums of money to maintain schools in the country.
“It is unfortunate to note that many schools in Zambia have not been spared from the act of vandalism, a situation that is worrying my office.
“Government through my office will come up with a deliberate mechanism to inspect and monitor government schools to ensure that there is sanity,” he said.
The Minister further said that apart from vandalizing property, the congregants were also in the habit of throwing litter anyhow thereby making the school surroundings dirty.
He said that children threw papers anyhow after having their snacks and there was usually no one to control or monitor them.
He said that even adults too littered school surroundings with empty packs of food and plastic bottles, an act he described as unhygienic.
“It is so embarrassing and saddening to see how dirty the surrounding of some government schools look and this is all because of the churches being tolerated to worship from schools,
“At the end of the day, our children risk getting diseases as they are ‘punished’ to clear off the dirt that other people leave behind. This is not what we want,” he said.
