Zimbabwean parents have expressed divergent views about allowing children to drive to school.
This comes after the deputy head boy of St George’s College, Ashley Musendekwa, was killed in a car crash along Harare Drive in Marlborough about two weeks ago.
He was reportedly on his way to collect his siblings from their respective schools.
Ashley, who was an Upper Sixth student, is believed to have been involved in a car racing challenge with schoolmates when the vehicle he was driving was involved in a head-on collision with a meat delivery truck.
His family denies he was racing.
Speaking to a weekly local publication, Musendekwa’s uncle Tungamirai Owen, said his nephew was a responsible person who could be entrusted with responsibilities. He said:
As parents, we read a lot of things, but we want to dispel some falsehoods. Ashley was not that irresponsible.
It just so happened that there is no such person whom he is said to have been racing with.
You know, when accidents happen, narratives are so different. He was a very responsible man whom, as parents, we felt we should give a car to drive to school.
However, some parents who spoke to NewsDay accused affluent parents of spoiling their children. Cecilia Techu, a parent from Kuwadzana, said:
Some of the bad things that happen such as this accident in particular really are the fault of the parents.
From a young age, these children from affluent homes get away with anything and are spoilt to the core.
Imagine parents who give their children of school-going age a car to drive knowing exactly how well that car might turn into a distraction?
Another parent who requested anonymity said:
To be honest, this phenomenon of letting children drive to school is new to us. Maybe this is what the new generation has come to, I don’t know.
A parent from Dzivarasekwa 3, Gilbert Tazira said:
Rich people have a tendency to show off and they think it’s classy to send their children to school driving.
It’s such a sad incident that could have easily been avoided.
However, some parents argued that circumstances may force those who can it afford, to allow their children to drive to school. Said Jennipher Francis:
Honestly, the mode of living differs from one household to another. If (parents) can afford to have their children drive to school, let them do so.
You never know the pressure under which they are. Some parents work hectic hours and cannot afford to pick up their children from school and, as such, entrusting them with cars becomes an easy option.
Primary and Secondary Education Ministry communications and advocacy director Taungana Ndoro told source said the ministry cannot bar schoolchildren from driving when they get a driver’s licence. He said:
The ministry’s position on this cannot be conclusive because a driver’s licence is issued by another ministry when someone attains the age of 16 years.
They are eligible to drive as they are given an identity document by the Ministry of Home Affairs and can access a driver’s licence.
When they get a driver’s licence, they are allowed to drive on the country’s roads, and what can the ministry do to say they are not supposed to drive?.
This is a law that needs a multi-sectoral approach if there is anybody in the relevant sectors who feels that there should be changes.
The ministry can only be a participant and not an authority to determine who goes to school driving or not.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said:
We embark on awareness campaigns in schools and mostly, we do it in partnership with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe.
Besides that, we also urge parents to cultivate values of safe driving in their children, especially those who can afford to have their children drive to school.
He urged schoolchildren not to give in to peer pressure that may make them engage in activities that result in the loss of life.
Asst Comm Nyathi also implored parents to defer giving their children cars until they are mature enough.
Source Pindula News
