Government to build 2 000 new schools

Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to start the construction of 100 schools before the end of the year.

In the long-term, Government intends to build 2 000 primary and secondary schools in the country’s 10 provinces.

Speaking to parents and pupils during the official handover of computers at Mukomberanwa Secondary School in Chirumhanzu last week, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora said Cabinet ordered his ministry to start building the schools as soon as possible.

There is a deficit of 2 056 schools in the country.

Minister Dokora said the construction of 100 schools would be completed by March next year, saying that rains would delay the work.

“In 2013, we identified 2 056 places where we want to build schools, he said. Most of these schools will be built in resettlement areas.

“At the moment we are looking for investor partners to construct these schools. As a ministry, we have been given a task by Cabinet to build about 100 schools before the end of this year.”

The construction of schools is in line with the Zim-Asset economic turnaround programme under the Social Services and Poverty Eradication Cluster, which seeks to improve the quality and access to education.

Minister Dokora said the ministry had also completed reviewing the education curriculum.

“The donations come at the most opportune time when my ministry has concluded the curriculum review process, which is meant to usher in a new era in the education sector through embracing technology and e-learning,” he said.

“It is also coming at a time when my ministry has embarked on a teacher capacity development programme in collaboration with our local universities in order to equip teachers with modern technology skills in education.”

The new curriculum, code named Zimbabwe Education Blueprint, will be introduced next year.

It will, among other things, scrap Integrated Science from the curriculum and replace it with General Science.

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) in conjunction with Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services donated 80 computers to Mukomberanwa Secondary School that were officially handed over by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.