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NOT only is it located in the remotest part of Marange, but it is also one of the few schools which still took lessons in shabbily thatched structures and has the dismissal time determined by weather conditions.Mt Zonwe High School, located in Muzonwe village under Chief Marange will however start telling a different story now that the school has partnered with the Lotteries and Gaming Board which recently built, furnished and commissioned a new classroom block for the benefit of Mt Zonwe secondary school students. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, the Board chairman who was also the Guest of Honour, Mr Stephen Gwasira, described the construction of the classroom block as an acceleration of the growth targets enunciated for the Zim Asset blueprint which is targeting a 4 percent growth in the education sector in 2014.
“A total of $24 000 was used to construct and furnish this classroom block. As such the Lotteries and Gaming Board derives a sense of accomplishment and pleasure when funds disbursed are put to good use,” he said.
In a speech read on his behalf by Mr Barnabas Njikizana, the provincial education director challenged parents to consistently pay their children’s school fees as a way of working hand in hand with the education ministry to develop schools. He also stressed the need for parents to enrol their children at schools within their catchment area.
“School fees should always be paid on or before the opening day of every school term. We know that people are struggling to make ends meet but I want to urge you all to do your best when it comes to educating your children. “It is a good thing that you now have a school close by. That ensures the development of this area because when you send your children to schools as far as Chirinda, it is the Chirinda community that is benefiting. Most people are yet to understand the fact that enrolling children in their catchment area will develop that respective area,” said the PED in his speech.
Also at the ceremony, Chief Marange took time to address the people and castigated the issue of early marriages which is quite rife in the area, adding that parents should be very serious about educating the girl child.
He went on to say that despite the need to pay much attention to the girl child, no child whether male or female should take precedence over another.
One of the parents, Goodluck Mutichakwa who could not hide his excitement about the new development, expressed relief at the fact that the children in the Muzonwe area will no longer have to walk frustratingly long distances to school. “It comes as a great relief to me as a parent that our children will now be walking reasonable distances to get education. Because of the poor structures at Mt Zonwe, they had to walk as far as Chirinda high school, which is some 10 kilometres from here. Children had to wake up as early as three or four to attend lessons which commenced at eight at their respective schools because of the long distances,”
“Our area is also infested with hyenas and that used to pose danger to our children because sometime in 2007, a certain girl was attacked by a hyena on her way from school. We will forever be grateful for the new classroom block that was built at Mt Zonwe. We are sure that this will also motivate the teachers to do their work even more diligently.
The Lotteries and Gaming board operates under the Ministry of Home Affairs and was deliberately established by the government as one of its mandates to promote socio economic investment. Besides Mt Zonwe secondary school, the board also funded in Manicaland, St Mary’s Magdalene high in Nyanga, Emerald high in Chipinge and Ndima high school in Chimanimani.
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