Fast-track construction of Globe and Phoenix Primary School

LEARNERS at Globe and Phoenix Primary School will start using Sally Mugabe Primary School infrastructure on a hot-sitting arrangement this week while the Government pushes to fast-track the construction of a new school.

The Midlands Provincial Civil Protection Unit team yesterday conducted a tour of the Sally Mugabe Primary School grounds where Globe and Phoenix Primary learners have been camping since March this year after they were forced to abandon their school, which was damaged by illegal mining activities.

The tents that were being used as classrooms by learners and staffers were blown off by the recent violent storms that were accompanied by thunderstorms.

However, when the lessons resume, the affected learners will share classrooms with their host learners for their safety.

Midlands deputy provincial education director, Mrs Angeline Zahile, who was part of the delegation said the decision was reached after considering the safety of the learners and staffers alike.

“Violent winds and storms blew off the tents, which they were using as classrooms and this left the children and the learners exposed to the vagrants of the weather,” she said. “We, therefore, noticed that the learners could not continue using the tents.”

She said the Sally Mugabe learners will come in the morning while the Globe and Phoenix learners will attend afternoon lessons.

“A decision has been reached that the Sally Mugabe learners come in from morning to 12 noon and the Globe and Phoenix learners come in from 12 to 4PM. The host school has about 800 while Globe and Phoenix have an enrolment of about 1 200 learners and from the look of things, it will not be that difficult for them to fit in,” said Mrs Zahile.

She said authorities were now frantically putting modalities that temporary structures be erected at the new site and lessons can start taking place there.

“We discovered that the ground that they were using is a low-lying area and the best option for now would be to construct stronger temporary structures at the new school site so that, if all goes well, by early next year, the students can start learning from there,” she said.

Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution permanent secretary, Mr Edgars Seenza, said the Government has ordered relevant authorities to speed up the construction process.

“We will ensure that everything needed from our side is in place so that the construction starts as soon as possible. We are in total support of the project and we have asked the local team led by the District Development Coordinator to do all the necessary due diligence, if any, so that by next year students can relocate to the new site,” he said.

Mr Seenza said the Government has already started mobilising support.

“We have been briefed about immediate challenges that the two schools are facing as they share the infrastructure and we have already started mobilising support so that they can be addressed while we work on the long-term solution,” he said.

Mr Seenza said he had been impressed by the work done by the local Kwekwe District Civil Protection to ensure that the children are safe, albeit under harsh conditions.

“The local CPU reacted swiftly to the disaster and the children are out of danger. They have been monitoring the situation and relocating accordingly,” he said. “We should now work towards ensuring that a safer learning environment has been created for them so that they can have a conducive learning environment.”

Mr Seenza urged parents to continue paying their levies as they would go a long way in ensuring that the service bills are paid for.

Classroom blocks at the school, which was named after previous owners Globe and Phoenix Mine, which was later taken over by Homestake, gave in after illegal miners left underground tunnels.

Kuvimba Mining House, which took over Homestake, donated a piece of land for the construction of a new school.