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Auxilia Katongomara / Emily Mbewe Chronicle Reporters
SEVEN Form Two pupils from Njube High School in Bulawayo have been put under surveillance by the police Drugs and Narcotics Section after they were found in possession of mbanje at the school last week.

The pupils were reportedly caught by school authorities on different occasions smoking the drug and reportedly admitted to being regular users.

The school head Casper Ndebele declined to comment saying he had sent a report to Bulawayo Provincial Education Director Dan Moyo.

“I’m sorry I can’t comment on the matter, call the PED,” said Ndebele.

Sources at the school said the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Drugs Section was called to the school to counsel pupils on the dangers of drug and substance abuse.

“The CID Drug squad was here last week, they came with all sorts of drugs , substances as well as skin lightening creams and had a session with pupils at the school and discussed the dangers of using these,” said the source.

The source said the pupils were arraigned before the school’s disciplinary committee and were made to write reports about the incident.

“They all admitted to smoking mbanje and even named the supplier to the police officers, who however disappointed us by failing to arrest the culprit. This man is destroying the lives of these young boys,” said the source adding that the pupils had been placed under two year surveillance by the narcotics section to monitor their substance abuse as well as rehabilitation.

Moyo said he had not yet received a report on the matter.

Some pupils who spoke to The Chronicle said cases of thuggery and drug abuse were prevalent at the school.

They said cases of bullying were very high as well as alcohol abuse although the school had stepped up its security to curb it.

Meanwhile, six Sobukhazi High School pupils yesterday appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze facing a charge of theft.

The pupils pleaded guilty and were remanded to March 5 in the custody of their parents.

The Form Four pupils from different Bulawayo suburbs allegedly stole art equipment from the school premises.

Prosecuting Nkathazo Dlodlo told the court that on February 6, 2015 at around 4PM Bhekusizi Ndlovu the art teacher knocked off duty and left the storeroom and classroom locked.

Dlodlo told the court that on February 8 at around 8AM one of the students entered the school yard and went to the art room where he used a screwdriver and an iron bar to open the door.

The court heard that the pupil stole art equipment and put it in a box before leaving the school premises unnoticed. “The pupil hid the stolen property under a tree surrounded by the thick shrubs while four other pupils were watching,” said Dlodlo.

The pupil proceeded to his friend’s house and told him he had stolen some goods, which he wanted both of them to sell.

The two arrived where the property was hidden and took some of the stolen goods and went to sell them.

The court heard the other four pupils saw the two boys leaving the rest of the stash.

The four allegedly took the remaining goods that included paints, brushes, keyboards and rubber bands.

They also sold the goods.

The stolen goods amounted to $811 and only goods worth $249 were recovered.

Last year, a team of psychologists visited Njube High School, probing rampant alcohol abuse.

The school had made an application to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education seeking to exclude 12 bullies from the school after a stabbing incident. In the same year, two Sobukhazi High School pupils were caught having sex in a classroom.

A pupil from the school gave birth behind the toilets last year.