Vusumuzi Dube
Mashudu Mambo
THE Zimbabwe National Army Schools and Welfare Trust (ZNASWT) is making significant progress in promoting gender equality, with 75 percent of senior positions in army schools held by women.
Speaking during the recent handover ceremony of two classroom blocks at Imbizo Garrison Primary School on the outskirts of Bulawayo, ZNA Director of Army Education Corps, Colonel Abnel Makaripe, emphasised the organisation’s commitment to bridging the gender gap in military schools.
“As a corps, we have made great strides in gender inclusivity by ensuring that leadership positions in our schools include female heads. For instance, the head of this school is a woman, and at Indlovu Iyanyathela Primary School, the head is also female. This pattern is reflected across many of our schools nationwide,” he said.
“Women constitute about 75 percent of the education workforce in our schools. We are consciously working towards maintaining a gender balance in terms of deployment.”
Col Makaripe said they are working on building several schools to meet the growing demand.
“For nearly a decade, our schools have been performing exceptionally well, achieving a 98 percent pass rate at Grade Seven and Advanced levels. For Ordinary Level, we are above 50 percent, and these impressive results are a reflection of the great work that our teachers are putting in,” he said.
Col Makaripe explained that due to these results, parents continue to enrol their children in army schools.
“We are on a drive to expand our infrastructure so that we leave no one behind and ensure that people from different communities benefit from our schools,” he added.
Col Makaripe also highlighted that army schools have maintained a drug-free environment through proactive education and collaboration with various stakeholders.
“There are no cases of drug abuse in our schools, and this is largely because we have many stakeholders within the army who educate our children on the dangers of drug abuse,” he said.
Col Makaripe credited this success to the collaboration with various army departments, including health services, social services, and the military police, who educate students about the risks of drug and substance abuse.
He emphasised that they remain vigilant in ensuring their learners are well-informed about the dangers associated with drug abuse.
Online Reporter