By Walter Mswazie
MASVINGO – A 21-YEAR-OLD former Victoria High School A-level pupil in Masvingo allegedly went berserk and turned violent after failing to score 25 points in the 2014 Zimbabwe School Examinations Council examinations.
The pupil (name withheld), who wanted a scholarship to study medicine, had targeted 25 points but scored 16 from five subjects. He got a B in Mathematics, B in Biology, C in Chemistry, C in Economics and D in Further Mathematics.
Teachers at the school scampered for cover as he became uncontrollably violent both physically and verbally assaulting anyone in his way.
Some daring teachers came to the rescue and manhandled the pupil before taking him to Masvingo General Hospital where he was detained while under police guard.
Sources from the hospital said he was very violent that he had to be injected with anaesthetic.
“The doctor had to inject him with anaesthetic but it was not easy as he was violent. When he woke up, he was exhibiting signs of mental illness as there was no coherence in what he was saying. The student is said to be staying with a friend’s parents after both parents passed on,” said a source at the hospital.
His guardian confirmed the incident but said the former pupil had since recovered and attributed the mental lapse to shock.
“I think the boy suffered from shock as he was confident that he would score 25 points. He wanted to apply for a scholarship that would help him do medicine at university and the prerequisite was 25 points or three straight distinctions in science subjects,” she said.
The guardian said when he heard that results were released he told her that if he fails to attain 25 points, he would commit suicide.
“I took the boy as my son and agreed that he may stay here with my son paying nothing. I appreciated his situation and was impressed by his behaviour since he does not drink beer nor smoke. What I know is that he loves studying and often spends his time reading books. When Advanced Level results were released last week he confided in me that he would end his life if he failed to score 25 points. I, however, counselled him and he withdrew the statement saying he was joking,” she said.
“He went to collect his results around 10am and after a while I received a call from one of his teachers saying that he had fallen sick. They told me that he was already at the hospital and upon my arrival together with my son, I realised that the hospital personnel had referred him to Ngomahuru Psychiatry Hospital due to his condition but I asked them not to send him there. Surprisingly, the boy has no history of mental problem.”
He has reportedly recovered from the shock and is back at his guardian’s house. Sunday News
