IT is sad to note that we still celebrate colonial names 33 years after independence.
This trend manifests itself at the various schools to which we take our very own children.
Allan Wilson High School, David Livingstone Primary School, Cecil John Rhodes Primary School, Fletcher High School, Chaplin High School, Roosevelt Girls High, Queen Elizabeth Girls High, Churchill Boys High, Prince Edward Boys High, and Stanley Primary School are some of the schools with colonial names in Zimbabwe.
What hurts me the most is the motto of Allan Wilson High School which reads, “WE ARE MEN OF MEN” in homage to Allan Wilson and his patrol who were all killed by Lobengula’s men at Shangani in 1893.
The Allan Wilson patrol was after King Lobengula, but were wiped out instead by brave Ndebele fighters.
The motto “WE ARE MEN OF MEN” does not reflect the true history and yet our children not knowingly boastfully and proudly proclaim the motto wherever they go.
Allan Wilson and his troops were not men of men.
They were colonisers and cowards after our resources.
So there is absolutely nothing to celebrate about them.
As a parent I am not happy with names such as Cecil John Rhodes Primary named after Cecil John Rhodes who paved the way for the country’s colonisation.
I remember there were calls that schools named after our former colonisers should have those names changed, but for some reason this was not implemented.
Sometimes the problem is with us parents who align these names with elitism.
Elitism of a school does not come from its name.
Why did we celebrate independence if we are still this psychologically colonised?
Let’s work together as parents and the relevant Ministry and have these names scrapped and replaced by our own Zimbabwean or African heroes instead.
We must do this urgently.