The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Sunday News Reporter
A BULAWAYO high school — Townsend — last week auctioned pupils’ mobile phones for as little as $20 in circumstances parents have described as fraudulent and illegal.
The auction saw parents, teachers and anyone who managed to sneak into the school development committee meeting buy modern smart phones which included Samsung S4, Blackberry, Android and Nokia Windows phones for as little as $15, with the most expensive going for $20. Normally, smart phones range between $100 and $300. Sources alleged the school auctioned more than 30 mobile phones on the day.
Parents interviewed expressed disgust at the move by the school, saying it was open to abuse as there was no proof on the number of mobile phones that were confiscated from pupils in class and those that were sold.
“Something is wrong, first they say when a cellphone is confiscated a parent pays a fine of $50 to recover it, then they go on to call this auction where they have the audacity of selling mobile phones that cost as much as $300 for a paltry $20. Secondly, there is no accountability in all this because who knows how many phones were confiscated and how many were auctioned.
The responsible authorities and even the police if possible should investigate the school because clearly there is something illegal in all this. Worse still, some bought these for their children for as much as $300 then they are sold for a song,” said a parent who preferred anonymity.
Another parent who bought an Android phone for $15 during the auction said while he had bought it as a means of fundraising for the school, he knew that the whole process was unfair.
“It was an auction. I couldn’t boycott it because honestly, the mobile phones were cheap but I feel sorry for the parents who had bought these phones for their children because they suffered a huge loss,” said the parent.
Contacted for comment, the school’s deputy head, a Mrs Ngwenya, was not forthcoming, claiming she had no jurisdiction to comment on the matter.
“I think you should call the school head, Mrs M Moyo, on that matter but I don’t know where she is or when she will be back in the office. I cannot even give you her mobile number,” she said before hanging up.
Efforts to get a comment from the school head were fruitless as she was continuously out of office. However, Bulawayo provincial education director Mr Dan Moyo said while he was not aware of the matter, it was illegal and mischievous for the school to sell the mobile phones, noting that a cellphone was a very essential communication device.
“There is nothing wrong with pupils owning mobile phones because this is a very essential communication device because there comes a time when a child has to communicate with their parents or an emergency arises. That is simple logic, which I expect school authorities know of.
“What I have constantly encouraged is that the mobile phones be disconnected during lessons because they can be disruptive but I see no problem in their operation during break or free time. Further for a school to go on and auction these phones is highly illegal and mischievous. Instead, in cases where they feel pupils are using the phones during lessons and there is a need to confiscate them, they should just give them back to the parents,” said Mr Moyo.
He said he was going to dispatch officers to investigate the matter and see how the anomaly could be rectified.
“One thing that we cannot dispute is that what happened there is illegal. You cannot just sell off those mobile phones; we will definitely instigate investigations,” said Mr Moyo.
