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where he implored stakeholders in the education sector to safeguard Zimbabwe’s status as a nation with the highest literacy rate in Africa.
The school is a brainchild of the First Lady, Amai Mugabe, through the Grace Mugabe Foundation, and was constructed with the assistance of a grant from the Chinese government.
The ceremony was attended by several ministers, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Lin Lin and parents of pioneer students.
“Amai Mugabe’s efforts, combined with those of Government and other NGOs involved in education, should create in us a need to jealously guard the gains we have made in the sector. According to the UN, in 19 out of 48 African countries, education poverty is over 30 percent. Zimbabwe’s education poverty is the lowest at 2,8 percent. If there are children who are still illiterate it means there are areas which have not been visited by our education system and it is the duty for every one of us to hunt for these hidden areas,” said the President.
The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said the First Lady’s efforts should also be seen in the light of the ongoing empowerment programmes.
“We also celebrate this day in the realm of black empowerment. At independence, Government embarked on a focused and dynamic programme to overcome the lack of resources, unqualified staff, mediocre syllabi and dilapidated learning facilities which were purposefully designed to ensure that blacks never fully realised their potential.”
President Mugabe commended the First Lady for her resilience. “I want to quickly add that it is a happy day for our whole family, who have followed and helped their dear mother as she determinedly pressed on with the project that today is our pride. I can assure you that the First Lady invested large amounts of time and study on this project. Ini ndinonyanyo nonoka kubva kubasa asi ndakazoona vavakunonokawo, ndikati zvino tikanonoka kuuya tose anozobikira mumwe sadza ndiani?”
He said the First Lady did not abandon her goals even when the going was tough. “Once she has set her mind on something, she can never be changed. Ini ndaitoti hatingachinje pakati nepakati ivo voti aiwa, that is how she is.”
The school is adjacent to the Children’s Home, another project spearheaded by the First Lady.
The children are housed in homes with foster parents to ensure a normal upbringing.
“The children have foster parents who look after them and raise them in a way that resembles a typical family life.
“It was my wife’s observation that children should not be made to feel like inmates in a correctional facility, but rather be given the warmth, love and guidance synonymous with growing up in a normal family environment.”
Online Reporter