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Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter
MATABELELAND South province needs additional primary and secondary schools which will be key in ensuring development and attainment of better livelihoods, a legislator has said.
Speaking during the state of the nation address debate in Parliament on Tuesday, MDC-T Matabeleland South proportional representative from Plumtree Ms Sipho Mokone said children were still walking long distances to school, a development which may affect their turn out in the future.
She said the province had 168 wards and four wards share one school.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema recently said the Government was working towards constructing 2 000 more schools countrywide to cover the gap which has resulted in the overcrowding of pupils.
Ms Mokone also said provincial councils should fully function to enable provinces to fully utilise resources in their areas to improve people’s lives.
“The number of primary and secondary schools in Matabeleland South does not match the number of wards that are found in that province. Matabeleland South has 168 wards, but if you go on the ground you will discover that there is only one school serving four wards,” said Ms Mukone.
“It means that the children have to walk long distances in search of education which is a constitutional right. Having said that, due to Covid-19 the Ministry of Education has actually revised the teacher-pupil ratio in schools, meaning to say that the classes that had 60 pupils are going to be broken into two. It is going to be two classes that used to be one. That is very key in the sense that we need more schools in Matabeleland South both primary and secondary schools.”
She said some of the schools in Matabeleland South are in a sorry state and need upgrading to ensure the safety of pupils.
“I therefore challenge the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to conduct an audit of schools in Matabeleland South so that they upgrade the ones that need to be upgraded.”
Ms Mokone said the province was also in dire need of clinics to reduce the long distances people were walking to seek health services.
“We need clinics in each ward so that someone with a minor ailment can go to the clinic to get paracetamol or ibuprofen tablets,” he said. @thamamoe
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