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Some of the furniture made from timber from Matabeleland North is being exported yet the owners of this resource are made to do without furniture.
According to a story we carried yesterday, the situation is so bad that close to 20 pupils share a single chair and about the same number share a desk. The schools in Matabeleland North are supposed to buy the furniture at very low prices given the fact that the timber used to make the furniture is their own natural resource they are supposed to benefit from.
Districts such as Nkayi and Lupane where some furniture manufacturing companies have established factories should not face the problem of shortage of furniture. The situation obtaining in Matabeleland North vindicates Government’s move to force companies exploiting natural resources to cede at least 10 percent of their shares to local communities.
The shortage of furniture at schools in the province shows that the companies that have and are still harvesting timber in the province are refusing to share the resources with the local community and the only option left is for the Government to force them to give a portion of their profits to the community through the Community Share Ownership Scheme Trust (CSOS/T).
Supplying furniture to local schools cannot eat that much into the companies’ profits but the problem is that the companies are used to exploiting resources for next to nothing hence their reluctance to part with a few desks and chairs which in most cases could just be a one-off donation.
Desks and chairs are very critical in creating a conducive learning environment. What companies should appreciate is that by investing in the education of the children in the communities they work in, they will be indirectly investing in manpower development for their own companies. It is the same pupils that will work in their factories in future so companies should invest now and reap the benefits later. The situation in Matabeleland North is not learner-friendly and should be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Twenty pupils sharing a chair and an equal number sharing a desk cannot be expected to produce good results hence the outcry about poor results from the province at Grade Seven and at O-level. Parents, while waiting for Government to address this challenge of timber companies refusing to share their profits with communities, should sacrifice to raise resources to improve their children’s learning environment.
Teachers are demoralised to teach pupils that do not have the essentials such as adequate furniture and books. Which teacher would enjoy teaching without a chair or a desk? We want to once again urge parents to ensure schools have adequate furniture and at the same time we want to implore Government to move swiftly to force, especially companies exploiting timber in Matabeleland North Province, to cede without further delay, the 10 percent shareholding to communities under the community share ownership scheme.
Online Reporter