Chronicle Editor
Nothando Zondo, Sunday News Reporter
PARENTS of children at Mawabeni Primary School, Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South province recently came together and constructed a classroom block at the learning institution after realising that enrolment was increasing, forcing some of their students to learn in a nearby church.
The school has an enrolment of 1 136 learners, with 19 classrooms which authorities said was a deficit of six classrooms.
With the completion of the block, with two classrooms, the school has one block which is on foundation level and the other block is yet to be built.
Working with the School’s Development Committee (SDC), parents contributed US$10 each towards the construction of the classroom block.
Speaking at the commissioning of the block, Deputy Minister of Defence who is also the Umzingwane legislator, Brigadier-General (Rtd) Levy Mayihlome commended parents saying this would go a long way in ensuring that their children get the education they required.
He urged the parents not to stop here, but to continue with such developments to ensure that the rights of the learners are met.
“This should be emulated by other parents from other schools as this will go a long way in uplifting the country’s education sector. I am aware that there are two more blocks to be constructed, with one block already at foundation level, with the parents contributing US$10 a term to these projects. I will also be paying US$50 a term, until the blocks are completed,” said Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mayihlome.
The Deputy Minister said when a community takes the first step towards its development, it compels well-wishers to also assist.
“As President Mnangagwa is always teaching us, ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo, let us emulate that mantra and our nation will be developed all this in line with Vision 2030,” he said.
During the commissioning, the school also received furniture, text books and a sum of US$2 000 from one of their former pupils, Mr Never Ncube who is the chief executive officer of Internet Service Provider, Utande.
The school’s head, Mr Clement Mahlangu revealed that the project commenced in 2021 and parents had managed to raise US$24 000 for the entire project, with some of the leftover materials already being used for the other block which is on foundation level.
“As the school head I feel elated about this but at the same time realising that this is just the beginning, much more still has to be done in the provision of safe classroom accommodation.
“The deficit of six classrooms is not a joke. At the same time, we have to tackle the provision of furniture which is in serious shortage.
“The construction was wholly funded by the parents who also contributed with locally available resources such as pit sand, river sand as well as quarry.
“We would build; wait for payments to start; and proceed again. The classroom block will alleviate classroom shortages. It will create a healthy and safe learning atmosphere,” said Mr Mahlangu.
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