Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Chronicle Reporter
LONG distances walked by pupils in rural areas have remained a stumbling block in accessing quality education and to counter this some parents have been forced to secure accommodation for their children at business centres located near schools.
These are not ideal places for pupils to live away from home. Some parents have to hire someone to monitor their children while other pupils live with little or no supervision.
Long distances to schools have been identified as one of the causes of low pass rates and dropping out of school. A few schools have managed to set up low cost boarding facilities for their pupils but not all learners can be accommodated.
Other schools have set aside a teacher’s cottage for learners’ accommodation but it can only cater for a few. Ward 14 Councillor in Gwanda, Phineas Maphosa said there were learners that were staying at Ntephe Business Centre in order to be close to Ntephe Secondary School.
“There are learners in my area who have to walk more that 10 kilometres in order to reach school. Parents are now renting space for their children to stay at the business centre which leaves children exposed.
It’s not ideal for learners to stay under such an environment because there is a lot of activity at business centres and some of it involves alcohol and parties. Some parents stay far so they can’t keep a close eye on their children,” he said.
“Pupils need to stay in a convenient environment which won’t affect their studies. We need help so that schools can have mini-boarding facilities.
Some of the pupils are not performing well in school because of the long distances they walk while others have been forced to drop out of school.”
Councillor for Ward 5 in Bulilima District, Promise Masibi said at Maqhekeni Secondary School which is in her area school authorities have resorted to accommodating some learners at a teacher’s cottage.
She said only about 20 learners have been accommodated meaning many more were still stranded. Clr Masibi said some pupils walk 15 kilometres to reach the school. She said this leaves pupils, especially girls at risk of being sexually abused on their way to school.
Clr Masibi said some learners cross rivers to reach school and whenever they were flooded they stay at home and miss out on lessons.
Gwanda Ward 11 Councillor, Coster Ndlovu said pupils used to stay unsupervised at Ntalale Business Centre but then the community leadership intervened after realising that the activities that were taking place there had a bad influence on children.
He said pupils were now staying at the business centre under the supervision of a parent. Clr Ndlovu said parents do not have another option as children coming from the furthest village had to walk about 20 kilometres to get to school.
“There is need for adequate accommodation in schools which can cater for all learners that stay far from schools,” he said.
The director of communication and advocacy in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro said efforts were underway to ensure that more schools were built across the country so that the furthest distance to a school could be reduced to five kilometres. He said in the meantime schools have been urged to set up low cost boarding facilities.
“As a ministry we are working with various partners including communities in order to ensure more schools are built across the country and distances walked by learners are reduced,” he said. – @DubeMatutu
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