Vusumuzi Dube
Blessed Moyo, Sunday News Reporter
IN a milestone development aimed at enhancing education and improving learners’ comfort in the rural area of Redbank in Umguza District, the local authority has deployed devolution funds to replace makeshift classrooms with state-of-the-art facilities in the resettlement areas.
The transformation has also seen the establishment of the district’s first-ever council secondary school which is expected to improve education affordability.
The new facilities at Muntu Primary, Zikhuleleni Primary and the establishment of Mqabuko Secondary are fully funded by the Government through devolution funds and contributions from the rural district council.
The initiative ends the era in which learners at schools such as Muntu Primary School have been learning in converted horse stables. They now eagerly anticipate a new classroom block and restroom facilities — a development that is also expected to increase the pass rate.
The construction of these new educational facilities — alongside the launch of the first council secondary school marks a significant advancement in the region’s educational infrastructure that promises to uplift the future of its learners.
In an interview with Sunday News, the Councillor for Umguza Ward 14, Clr Delay Ncube said prior to the developments, there were severe infrastructural challenges with learners using what used to be horse stables as classrooms.
He thanked all the stakeholders for working together to bring the much-needed relief to the learners who he said were looking forward to using proper facilities.
“More than 80 young learners have been enduring squalid conditions packed into a former horse stable with insufficient ventilation. This ignited a demand for urgent action and the local authority, Government and community all worked together to ensure the construction of classroom blocks starts,” Clr Ncube said.
He added that the learners at Muntu Primary School were also forced by circumstances to share dilapidated and overflowing toilets.
“The single, dysfunctional toilet was grossly inadequate, subjecting our learners to unsanitary and humiliating circumstances.
It’s disheartening to witness our young children in such an environment,” he said.
Similarly, students at Zikhuleleni Primary School have been attending classes in a repurposed farmhouse that also serves as teachers’ quarters with Clr Ncube stressing the urgent need for improvement at the school as well.
“Zikhuleleni Primary School’s 208 learners are also bidding farewell to their crisis. They were learning in a cramped repurposed farmhouse that doubled as teachers’ quarters, lacking basic amenities and posing serious health and safety hazards,” said Clr Ncube.
“This unacceptable situation demanded immediate attention and investment in proper educational facilities prompting us to build a classroom block for the students and a cottage for the teachers,” he added.
Clr Ncube also spoke on the construction of the new Mqabuko Secondary School, which is set to open at the start of the school term next year.
“We are also establishing Mqabuko Secondary School, the first council secondary institution in Umguza. This school will offer affordable fees, in stark contrast to George Silundika and St James boarding schools, which many rural families cannot afford.
“This investment signifies our commitment to quality education and community development,” he said adding that residents have actively participated in the construction of these three schools through voluntary labour.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter