The Sunday News
Peter Matika, Senior Reporter
ZANU-PF Member of Parliament for Vungu in the Midlands Province, Cde Omega Sibanda, has appealed to the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to address the state of schools in his constituency, which he said was affecting the quality of education.
Cde Sibanda told Sunday News that he held a tour of schools in the constituency, where he invited officials from the Ministry to get an appreciation of the state of some of the schools.
“It is a dire situation, some of the schools if not most of them are falling apart. These schools were built in the 1930s and have never been renovated. The infrastructure and the curriculum are compromised. Some of the schools don’t offer Science subjects at Advanced level. It is not fair for an area to fail to produce people that can study and have careers in scientific fields of study.
“We have children that have dropped out of school. Some have dropped out from as early as Grade Seven. Some of these schools are not accessible and children are forced to walk long distances to attend classes and this is cumbersome. Education is the key to success, as the saying goes and everyone has a right to access it freely,” said Cde Sibanda.
He said he was particularly concerned about the state of one primary school –Shagari.
“It is dilapidated and poses a danger not only to students but staff as well. The roof and ceiling are falling off and the buildings are crumbling. It should be closed with immediate effect,” he said.
Cde Sibanda also said he was also concerned about the issue of Early Child Development (ECD), where some teachers not conversant in local languages were in charge of such classes.
“ Also there is an issue of a school – Mdubiwa Secondary School that purchased a bus for US$22 000 but the bus is parked as it is a ramshackle. The committee that was in charge of procuring the bus was duped,” said Cde Sibanda.
He said other schools had no ablution facilities, with one school having locked up facilities. Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Cde Edgar Moyo said he was appalled by the state of schools in the constituency.
“It is quite disheartening, we toured 13 schools and the state of education, in terms of infrastructure is appalling. Also of great concern is the issue of ECD, where teachers cannot speak local languages. That is an area that needs to be looked into urgently,” said Cde Moyo.
He said during the tour they discovered that 50 percent of schools had challenges with water and connectivity, with regards to Zesa.
“No schools are connected to the internet and this greatly affects the e-learning initiative. We will have to implore Rural Electrification Agency to ensure there is connectivity in these schools. We want to ensure that there are equal opportunities in both urban and rural schools. During the tour we met various School Developmental Committees (SDC) and parents to map the way forward, also paying close attention to the current state of the economy,” said Cde Moyo.
