94 new schools to transform learning

 

Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter

MANICALAND has witnessed a significant boost in education accessibility, thanks to the construction of 94 new schools by Government and its partners; a major development that has put the province on course to achieve its target of universal access to education.

Data released from the Manicaland Provincial Education Director (PED)’s Office on Wednesday shows that Chipinge District leads the pack with 22 new primary schools and 13 secondary schools, followed by Mutare with 15 and 14 primary and secondary schools respectively under construction.

Buhera District has seven primary and three secondary schools, while Nyanga has five and four primary and secondary schools, respectively.

Chimanimani District has three primary and one secondary schools under construction, while Makoni District has three primary and one secondary schools.

Mutasa District has one primary and two secondary schools under construction.

 

These new schools are being constructed by Government, local authorities, churches and private investors, among other partners; ensuring that thousands of pupils across the province have access to education closer to their homes.

This acceleration in schools construction is a boon leading to improved literacy rates.

A key driver behind this initiative is Government’s efforts to establish new schools, particularly in resettlement areas where educational facilities were previously scarce.

 

This will eliminate the challenge of learners travelling long distances to access schools, a factor that previously contributed to juvenile delinquency, absenteeism, and the rural-urban divide.

In some cases, the lack of nearby schools led parents to forgo enrolling their children, instead engaging them as workers on farm plots.

Though efforts to get a comment from the PED, Mr Richard Gabaza, were fruitless on Wednesday as he was locked in a series of meetings in Harare, his subordinates – the District Schools Inspectors (DSIs) – and other Government stakeholders confirmed the positive development on the ground.

Chipinge DSI, Mr Michael Chanyauwu said they have 22 new schools at various levels of construction across the district.

“Some of the schools inspected from March 3, 2025, which are under construction, include Chipinge Primary School, Matione Primary School, Muzila Primary School, Emerald Secondary School, Tongogara Primary School, Kubatana Secondary School and Mutandahwe Primary School.
We also have four schools that were inspected for registration, while Maparadze Secondary School, Chisuma Secondary School, Chikonwe Primary School, Mahenye Secondary School, Mahachi Primary School and Madziwa Secondary School were recently registered.

“These schools straddle the district, including in urban, rural, resettlement and border areas. Every corner of the district is covered, so that no place is left behind in education access,” he said.

Buhera DSI, Mr Tirivanhu Mutomba said the district is witnessing significant developments in its education sector, with several new schools being constructed.

Mr Mutomba said among the new schools were St Nimrod, which is being built by the Johane Marange Apostolic Church, as well as private schools in Murambinda Town Board and Chabata Village.

“Currently, there is the construction of St Nimrod Two Primary School in Masasa Village, a private investor constructing a primary and secondary school at Chabata Village as well as a private primary and secondary school at Murambinda. On top of that, several schools are constructing additional classroom blocks to cater for the growing enrolment.

“The construction of new schools has increased access to education, particularly in rural areas. This is also decongesting overpopulated schools. Learners will now travel short distances to school, which helps to improve their concentration levels. If a learner arrives at school with energy, he/she is motivated to learn. We are implementing the heritage-based education, and a learner will promptly understand it when taught in a conducive environment,” he said.

Mutare District Development Coordinator, Mr Tendai Kapenzi said the Johane Marange Apostolic Church is taking the lead in constructing schools in the district.

Mr Kapenzi also applauded Mutare City Council for constructing two new schools in the city to decongest overcrowding in urban schools.

“Mutare City Council is constructing Chikanga Two and Gimboki primary schools.

“In Mutare Rural, we have St Makebo in Ward 22 under Chief Zimunya, and St Cornelius Primary School in Ward 16. The two schools are being constructed by the Johane Marange Apostolic Church. We also have St Abiatha Primary, Jecheche Primary in Vumba as well as Rombe Primary in Chiadzwa,” he said.

Manicaland needs an additional 104 new educational facilities to ease the pressure on overcrowded schools where a high number of urban learners are now turning to peri-urban schools after failing to secure places closer to home.

The teacher-learner ratio at most urban schools is above 1:60.

The province also has 207 satellite schools, which require massive upgrading for them to be registered and attract quality teachers.

Mutare, Rusape and Chipinge are the hardest hit districts, while Buhera is the only district with the standard secondary-primary schools ratio of 1:3.

Budget constraints, land shortages and poor urban planning are the main reasons for the backlog in schools construction, and this has been depriving learners of a chance to realise their full potential as they travelled long distances to access education.

Zimbabwe Rural Teachers Union president, Mr Martin Chaburumunda welcomed the positive development, which he said will make education accessible to all learners, and decongest classes to make lesson delivery easy.

“This is what we have been calling for a long time. The current schools can no longer match the increasing numbers of learners across the country. Schools are overwhelmed, which brings a lot of workload on the teachers and ultimately compromises education quality.

“The 94 new schools are a good number to start with, and this will also reduce the distances that some learners travel to schools. Some are still travelling over 12km to the nearest school, which is unacceptable. Overcrowding is so prevalent in the urban areas of Chipinge, Rusape and Mutare, where a classroom has over 50 learners. This compromises lesson delivery.

“We are also calling for the prioritisation of decent teacher accommodation at the new and old schools. Teachers should not be crowded in shared accommodation. Currently most schools are found wanting when it comes to accommodation. Teachers’ houses should be given the same priority as classroom blocks and administration offices,” said Mr Chaburumunda.