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Samuel Kadungure Manicaland Bureau
Plans to build a state-of-the-art boarding school for the Gospel of God Church International (Johane Masowe) at its Gandanzara Shrine are now underway.
President Mnangagwa recently pledged to assist church members in educating their children in a Christian environment.
The church’s educational mission is to provide an environment that teaches all desirable subjects and life skills while reconciling the learners with God so that they grow spiritually.
President Mnangagwa visited the Gandanzara shrine early this month and the church leadership requested to be assisted with the construction of a school for their children who are scattered across the country and continent.
Manicaland needs 50 new schools to address shortages of learning institutions that have seen some learners walking for more than 20km to and from school every day.
Already, six new schools are already under construction in Makoni, Buhera, Mutare, Nyanga and Mutasa.
The Gandanzara School will house primary and secondary learners.
It will become the second boarding school to be built by Government in Manicaland after the ongoing upgrading of Chimbudzi Secondary School in Buhera into a boarding institution.
Given that existing public schools are overcrowded, new schools are needed to decongest them and improve access to inclusive, equitable and quality education.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Dr Evelyn Ndlovu, visited the church’s shrine on Tuesday together with the Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Nokuthula Matsikenyere and Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mr Edgars Seenza, on a familiarisation tour.
Dr Ndlovu said President Mnangagwa’s gesture to the church was one of the many strides being made to achieve universal access to inclusive, equitable and quality education.
She said the Government intends to build 3 000 schools, with 50 in Manicaland.
An inter-ministerial team will soon be established to spearhead the construction of the school.
“Our visit is a follow-up to President Mnangagwa’s visit to assess existing opportunities regarding the construction of a boarding facility so that children from the church can have their own school that will allow them to acquire knowledge in a familiar Christian environment,” said Dr Ndlovu.
“This is an opportunity to fulfil Government’s commitment towards the provision of education through the construction of schools in every part of the country.
“The challenge we have identified is that the local enrolment will not be enough since there are nearby schools. We therefore need to construct a boarding school for ECDs up to Form Six, and capitalise on the church members who are scattered across the country and continent whose children, upon finishing Grade 7, are expatriated to a church school in Kenya for secondary education. This is not right because as Government, we must provide education for our own citizens in facilities that they need. This is the reason why we will construct the school.”
Dr Ndlovu said an inter-ministerial team will spearhead the Presidential project.
The committee will be composed of the following ministries; Local Government and Public Works, Health and Child Care, Energy and Power Development, Lands, Agriculture, Water, Fisheries and Rural Development, National Housing and Social Amenities, and Primary and Secondary Education.
The project requires at least 36 hectares of land, and more land would be required for the construction of a shopping mall, service station, water treatment plant and tanks as well as sporting grounds.
Dr Ndlovu said that kind of land was presently unavailable, but there is a proposal to request villagers around the shrine to move to a settlement that would be developed for them, to pave way for the school project.
“We will also sit down, think outside the box and see if it is necessary to take over one of the nearby council schools and give it to the church.
“We will see which is the most viable option. As a ministry, we are already building schools and this year, we have a programme to build 35 schools and all the resources are available. About six of them are in Manicaland,” she said.
Gospel of God Church International acting general secretary, Elder Nelson Maturure, said the church values education and holistic child development in a non-sectarian school.
Elder Maturure said the boarding school will serve as a primary institution in which youths from the church will acquire skills and form a knowledge base that they can carry into adulthood, eventually becoming responsible contributors to societal development.
Meanwhile, Dr Ndlovu said Grade 7 examinations ended without incident, and learners will be at school for the Life Orientation Programme.
She urged school heads to submit timetables for the Life Orientation Programme and daily attendance statistics to District Schools Inspectors (DSIs).
“Zimbabwe is known for high quality education and we expect the best results since they got the tutorials. When they were disturbed by Covid-19, we gave them time to study.
“We cannot continue to use Covid-19 as an excuse. We have recovered from Covid-19. We compressed the syllabuses and learners managed to finish them. Grade 7s will continue going to school to acquire knowledge about what they will experience at secondary level. This is a preparatory period for them. We have agreed with teachers’ unions on that,” she said.
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