Online Reporter
Raymond Jaravaza [email protected]
GOVERNMENT is moving to urgently close the schools infrastructure gap in Bulawayo and other parts of the country to accommodate more learners and improve academic performance, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerayi Moyo said yesterday.
He said expanding public schools infrastructure was a priority as many schools continue to face challenges including classroom and textbook shortages as well as delayed BEAM funding disbursements.
Minister Moyo made the remarks during a fact-finding tour of schools in Bulawayo, where he assessed the state of learning facilities and got a first-hand picture of challenges affecting teaching and learning.
He also assessed infrastructure, staffing, enrolment, utilities and learner welfare as part of efforts to establish the needs of schools and inform interventions to address existing gaps.
Minister Moyo said the exercise was not a witch-hunt but an opportunity for the delegation that included Provincial Education Director Mr Bernard Mazambani, chief directors from the ministry’s head office, directors from provincial and district offices, development partners and representatives of teachers unions to understand the challenges confronting schools.
“Government will provide funding for the construction of new classrooms and teachers cottages as we value the importance of institutional accommodation needed in some of our schools such as those in the rural areas,” he said.
“We’re working tirelessly to provide the correct ambience that facilitates equitable access to quality education and we’re grateful to Treasury for making sure that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is allocated a sizeable portion of the national budget.
“The funds that we get from Treasury are directed to the construction of new schools, additional classrooms at existing schools, science laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories and the provision of digital tools such as laptops, tablets and tools for internet connectivity so that our learners are able to be innovative for continued industrialisation of the country,” said Minister Moyo.
He said the tour was a routine exercise where schools across the country’s 10 provinces are visited.
“The objective of our tour is to make an assessment of the conditions obtaining in our schools as we establish whether we are maintaining a conducive atmosphere, an enabling environment that ensures that our learners’ standards of education are improving,” Minister Moyo said.
He said the tours were also of paramount importance as the delegation looked at everything from the security at schools in terms of perimeter fences erected around the institutions, connectivity to the internet, the qualifications of the teachers from private, mission, council as well as Government owned schools.
Under the National Development Strategy 2, Minister Moyo said providing human capital was critical to bridging skills shortages.
He said schools such Mahatshula Primary School where classroom shortages are dire, Government will prioritise the construction of additional infrastructure.
“Mahatshula Primary School needs at least 10 blocks of two classrooms each and that shortage has resulted in some learners turning to hot sitting, which means the learners attend class from 12pm to 5pm.
Government will deal decisively with the shortage of classrooms across the country,” he added.
The school headmistress Mrs Thobekile Siziba said institution had 1 216 learners – 641 boys and 575 girls- being taught by 43 qualified teachers.
“Due to a shortage of classrooms we are on a hot sitting schedule where some learners in ECD (Early Childhood Development), Grades 2 to 4, attend classes later in the day. Funds permitting, we need 10 blocks of two classrooms each,” she said.
The school also has 105 learners benefiting from the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), but Mrs Siziba said the school last received the funds in 2022.
“105 learners are on BEAM and we last received the funds in 2022,” she said.
The council-owned school is connected to the national electricity grid and has a solar system, although it does not have a diesel-powered generator.
It also has internet connectivity funded by the School Development Committee, but faces a shortage of textbooks for different subjects and Grades.
The school has 20 computers for more than 1 200 learners and three teachers qualified to teach Information, Computer and Technology lessons.
Four learners living with disabilities are enrolled at the school, with the institution providing learning materials to support them.
Mrs Siziba said the school had municipal water and two boreholes, with the water regularly inspected by council.
With the rainy season approaching, she said the school’s roofs were intact, although several window panes needed replacement.
The school recorded a 92 percent Grade Seven pass rate last year. Minister Moyo also visited East View High School, Petra Junior School and Mgiqika Primary School during the day long tour.
