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Leonard Ncube, [email protected]
THE construction of the Catholic Church run Don Bosco Technical Secondary School (DBTSS) in Hwange has started while the institution’s technical skills side has introduced more vocational courses as the church makes efforts to complement Government in enhancing lifelong education to its citizens.
The school started in 2021 with 90 Form Ones who are now in Form Three and enrolment has grown to 270 leaners.
It is currently using existing infrastructure being shared with Don Bosco Technical College which offers Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET).
The school is operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco, a Catholic Church congregation.
Rector Major of Don Bosco from Italy Fr Angel Artime Fernandez presided over a ground-breaking ceremony when he laid a foundation stone for construction of the school last year, and a news crew observed yesterday that a classroom block with five classrooms is at roof level while two others with two and five classrooms respectively are at window level, with an administration block at slab level.
The four structures including ablution facilities are set to be completed by November and the school will move to the new premises in January 2024.
Each Form will have three classrooms and the idea is to eventually have Advanced Level in future.
The objective is to leverage on the conducive investment environment ushered in by the Second Republic to reduce shortage of learning institutions by improving access to education in Matabeleland North Province, improve standards of living through education and help Government attain its goals of an upper middle-income society by 2030.
DBTSS is one of its kind offering a combination of secondary school education with a rich curriculum comprising languages and cultural studies among others, together with Hexco courses from Form 1 so that when learners get to Form Four they will be having Hexco certificates.
This will give learners lifelong skills training in line with Government transformation agenda, and the mantra of leaving no one and no place behind.
Sitting within a 28ha piece of land that already has other infrastructure, the whole project including a technical block with a fully furnished library, state-of-the-art sports field and a school bus among other needs will cost US$400 000.
DBTSS Rector and Principal Fr Simba Muza said TVET courses being offered are Business Studies, Human Resources Management, Purchasing and Supply, plumbing, bricklaying, fitter and turning, metal work and welding, clothing and Technology, Information Technologies and Wildlife Management, with catering and tourism courses set to start next year.
“Next year we will need introducing solar energy training because we are seeing the need to turn green. There are green jobs being created so we want to train our students for the future.
“We are a secondary school with technical skills orientation where students will have both Zimsec and Hexco certificates and it’s a feeder to the tertiary TVET college so that even if one fails, they will be having skills. At the moment we are sharing existing facilities and we hope to complete construction in November before moving in January,” said Fr Muza.
The technical college has 13 lecturers while the secondary school has 15.
“The new courses are dominated by the working class who want to advance themselves. We are saying no-one shield be left behind or be incapable to contribute to the building of our nation.
“We are more and more seeing the need for people to be creators of jobs as the future is no longer limited to formal employment, let’s create jobs,” he said.
The Salesians are self-funding the project with the help of local and international partners.
Locally, Fr Muza said, Hwange Colliery Company has been exceptional in terms of helping the agenda.
“We always appeal to the corporate world and other stakeholders to come on board. It takes all stakeholders to come together to ensure young people are transformed. We have space but we can’t do it alone as we want to complement Government efforts to empower citizens. I am sure we will be able to attain what we are here for if we have the whole community with us. We are indebted to the corporate world for technical and material support and one of the key supporters is Hwange Colliery Company who have stepped up on several occasions” he said.
Chair of education subcommittee for the institution Mr Daniel Msumba thanked various stakeholders for the assistance rendered.
“We have been blessed to have a dream for the technical secondary school. The vision now is coming to pass because a lot of local state-owned companies, private companies, partners and foreign donors have assisted in terms of material resources. All this is happening because stakeholders in Hwange are assisting and we are grateful,” he said
Online Reporter