350 pupils stay home as school shuts down

Sandra Tekere, Sunday News Reporter
AT least 350 pupils at Pioneer Primary School in Fort Rixon, Matabeleland South are no longer attending school after the only classroom block which housed all the grades and the school office was destroyed by the rains that have been pounding the country since December last year.

The school has an enrolment of more than 400 pupils and the few who are still attending classes are learning from teachers’ houses. The main block was destroyed a few weeks after schools opened in January.

At first when the classrooms were destroyed, pupils used to learn under trees but the incessant rains forced them to completely abandon attending classes.

Sunday News visited the school on Friday and saw that almost all the infrastructure at the school was destroyed by the rains.

The school administration office’s roof was also blown off, exposing vital documents and pupils’ text books to the rains.

The news crew observed that some text books and writing books were still scattered around the school grounds.

Roofing sheets and thatched roofing were also scattered all over the school while some were hanging from trees.
After the destruction it was revealed that the school resorted to teaching the pupils under trees but this was not practical as text books and exercise books were exposed to rain while most of the children were catching cold.

In an interview, the School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson, Mr Timothy Ncube, said it was worrying as the pupils were being disadvantaged.

“I have been associated with the school since 2000. Although we know that our infrastructure was not that strong, we thought it would withstand the storm as it has withstood every other situation these past years,” said Mr Ncube.

He said at least when the block was destroyed the pupils had knocked off. Mr Ncube said some of the pupils were staying in areas where they have to cross flooded rivers hence they have also stopped attending classes.

“The school is left with about 50 pupils who live close by and those are the ones attending school. We are lagging behind both in terms of time and how to implement the new curriculum. Teachers will not get a chance to equip pupils with the new subjects and we are not even sure when we will be back to normal. The term is almost half way down and we are really worried,” he lamented.

The acting deputy head, Mrs Tsungirirai Marufu, said they reported the issue to the provincial head office but nothing has been done yet.

“This is affecting the children’s education. You can not teach from the same place where you are sleeping. The books were destroyed also. We appeal for help,” said Mrs Marufu.

Matabeleland South provincial education director Mrs Tumisang Thabela could not be reached for a comment .