Minister Ndlovu donates building material for science lab

Nkosilathi Sibanda, Sunday News Correspondent
COMMUNITIES in Bulilima District, Matabeleland South province, have been urged to be hands-on in the construction of science and technology laboratories at schools so as to assist in development of goals to reach the Education 5.0 set out by the Government.

Secondary schools in the constituency are lagging behind in the teaching of science related education owing to lack of infrastructure. The schools also face a shortage of science teachers.

This emerged during a constituency meeting at Ntunungwe Secondary School yesterday attended by Bulilima East Member of Parliament, Cde Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu. The school is a new facility built by community members in an initiative that was spearheaded by Cde Ndlovu who is also the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality.

Cde Ndlovu donated 100 bags of cement to kickstart the building project and implored villagers at Ntunungwe to concentrate their energies and resources towards building a laboratory.

Only two classrooms and a house stand as structures at the school which has an enrolment of 130 pupils. Cde Ndlovu said the teaching of science at secondary level exposes children to innovative thinking at an early stage. “We have to strengthen our science education. It is a necessity. As such I will put efforts for Ntunungwe Secondary School to have a science laboratory so that we give our children more career opportunities in the future.”

He said in the era of deadly diseases that are affecting humanity, it was a wake-up call for rural schools to shift focus and concentrate on science and technology.

“The emergence of the coronavirus was an eye opener for the science and innovation industry. We saw amazing innovations from students at tertiary institutions. We got to see students coming up with solutions to help the country’s health sector to fight the spread of the virus.”

The school’s headmaster, Mr Desire Mpofu, said there was a need to speed up the laboratory construction, considering that the institution recorded a low pass rate of just 11,1 percent.

“Construction of the school was necessitated by the high instances of school dropouts, we remain committed to build the lab. It is our mandate as parents and guardians to make sure that we meet our target,” said Mr Mpofu. The School Development Committee chairperson, Mr Gilbert Sibanda, said they recognised the Minister’s humbleness in dedicating his time to visit the school.