The Sunday News
Sukulwenkosi Dube
PEACE and Good Hope Primary School in Figtree area has received its first classroom block after 15 years during which pupils were learning from mud huts.
Grades three, four, six and seven pupils have moved into the new block while the remaining classes are still learning from the huts.
Speaking recently during a tour of the school, deputy headmistress Ms Susan Moyo said they hoped to complete two more classroom blocks to ensure that pupils moved to a proper learning environment.
“We got assistance from a non-government organisation, Family Impact, which built a classroom block for us. The organisation started building last year and they have promised to build two more classroom blocks and teachers’ cottages and from there we will take over,” said Ms Moyo.
She said the school which has an enrolment of about 300 pupils had been relying on only one toilet for the past years.
She said staff members at the school were faced with a challenge of accommodation as they slept in mud huts.
Ms Moyo said the school now had a reliable water source as they used to drink raw water they collected from a dam.
She, however, said while one classroom block had been built the school faced a challenge with furniture.
The councillor of the area Simon Sibanda, said the school was in a resettlement area which made it difficult for villagers to mobilise resources.
He said the ward which had about 20 villages had four primary schools which were all under construction.
Clr Sibanda said the ward did not have a secondary school.
“There are four schools which are all at various levels of construction but they all need more classroom blocks.
“The biggest challenge is that there are few homesteads in the resettlement areas which makes it difficult to mobilise resources to complete schools.
“Pupils who are learning at Fairview Primary which is a neighbouring school to Peace and Good Hope are also learning from mud huts and the community is trying to construct a classroom block,” he said.
Clr Sibanda said pupils were also forced to walk long distances because of the scattered settlement pattern.
He said a number of pupils were dropping out of school after completing their Grade Seven due to the absence of a secondary school in the area.
Clr Sibanda said the closest secondary schools in the area were missionary schools, Solusi High School and Usher High which community members could not afford.
Bulilima Rural District Council chief executive officer Mr John Brown Ncube said there was a huge challenge in building schools within resettlement areas.
He said the local authority was making efforts to secure funding for the construction of schools in these areas as children were learning from substandard structures.
