We need female teachers – Kandesha school head

KANDESHA Primary School acting headteacher Emmanuel Kana has implored Government to deploy female teachers to the school to help handle and mould the schoolgirls there.
The school has never had a female teacher since it was taken over by Government five years ago.
In an interview, Mr Kana said early marriages were rife because the girls have no female teachers to inspire them to complete their education.
He said the trend had led to most of them thinking that only men can be teachers as they have never seen a female teacher before owing to the area being rural.
“Whenever we have sports day, we normally camp in some area and that poses a danger to our schoolgirls as they have no one to take care of them and they remain vulnerable to both the male teachers and fellow schoolboys,” he lamented.
Mr Kana lamented that when schoolgirls become of age whilst at school, male teachers do not know how to handle the cases owing to how sacred menstruation is regarded in society.
He said the locals are highly superstitious which makes it impossible for male teachers to help the schoolgirls once they mess themselves up during menstruation.
“If only we had a female teacher, she can be able to handle such issues as she can understand them better. Last time we had a situation where a girl messed up and she was laughed at by her peers. If we had a female teacher she could have handled the case better,” he said.
Mr Kana said he has since reported the matter to the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) John Kaira.
When contacted for a comment, John Kaira said he is aware of the situation and will soon liaise with the provincial education officer to see how best the situation can be dealt with.
Mr Kaira said it’s important for schools to have female teachers who the girls can look up to and get inspiration.
“Female teachers act as confidants to our girls and so we will look into the issue seriously,” he said.
The school is located 13 kilometres away from the central business district of Mumbwa in Central Province.