Chronicle Editor
Prosper Ndlovu, Business Editor
STATE-OWNED telecommunications giant, NetOne, has embarked on an estimated ZW$60 million construction project of a modern school in Bunsiwa, Siachilaba area of Binga District, Matabeleland North province.
The project entails construction of state-of-the-art classroom blocks, offices, staff and strong rooms at Bunsiwa plus providing ICT equipment such as computers, printers and Wi-Fi.
It is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility initiatives and is expected to assist the community with enhanced education.
Located at about 60km from Binga center, the school is expected to benefit more than 220 pupils from the previously marginalised community.
The telecoms giant continues to commit more investments to corporate social spending to the needy and Bunsiwa is one such community.
NetOne acting chief executive officer, Mr Raphael Mushanawani, said their intervention was motivated by the desire to ensure that every child has the right to education.
“I have a team of young and energetic practitioners who are ready to go into the community and make a lasting impact,” he said.
“This project is one of many that will be completed within record-breaking time.”
NetOne acting head of marketing and public relations, Mr Dennis Chagonda, said the company has a mandate to assist the Government in community building and development.
“As NetOne we seek to assist the Government in delivering equal access to education for all. Construction has commenced as the foundation has already been done. We are looking at finishing in less than four months as the community is involved and actively helping,” he said.
“Bunsiwa Primary has a population of over 220 students but has only twenty-three sets of chairs and desks. This means about 200 students have nothing to use and spend a better part of their learning day under a tree.”
As part of the United Nations’ ‘Leaving No One Behind’ mantra, Mr Chagonda said NetOne was working towards including all communities in its developmental strategy.
He said Covid-19 has exposed technology gaps between rural and urban learners hence the company has chipped in to reduce inequality through provision of ICTs to make e-learning possible.
“The block in question is at the foundation level with construction set to kick start in less than two weeks. In this project NetOne partnered the community of Siachilaba, which has nine villages,” said Mr Changonda.
Early this year, NetOne commissioned Nachulwe Base Station in Binga at an event that was graced by Vice President, Dr Constantino Chiwenga. It was during this programme that the NetOne team identified the need in the community.
The issue was highlighted to the relevant authorities prompting a needs assessment towards assisting the school.
“We thank the Ministry of Information Communication Technology Postal and Courier Services for always coming through for us and the support they give to the company. Without their support making meaningful community impact will be very difficult,” added Mr Chagonda.
As part of the project proposal, the NetOne team has committed to sourcing all locally available materials from in and around the region and ensure community participation.
The local community has expressed gratitude to NetOne with the school head Mr T. Mwembe, who also comes from the same village saying the project was transformative.
“It’s the first time to see a company that comes into a community and involve the relevant community leadership in all the steps of project planning and execution,” he said.
“We are short of words of describing how we feel about what NetOne has done for us. We only had one complete block with two classrooms and another one still under construction,” he said.
“This has made the learning and teaching process a nightmare especially under extreme weather conditions. The two classrooms had to be used by the nine classes in the school, from ECD-A to the seventh grade.
“Once the project is done every child will be able to learn from a proper classroom with proper furniture.”
NetOne’s CSR strategy broadly targets areas such as education, health, community empowerment projects, care initiatives, installation of base stations in marginalised communities and environmental protection. Among its initiatives is the renovation of the Gwanda Provincial Hospital Theatre whose process has already been set rolling.”
Online Reporter