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THERE is need to invest in school-going children to save them from child marriages.
The message was delivered by Chinese gold miner, Ming Chang of Sino Africa, during celebrations to mark the International Children’s Day.
During the occasion, the miner donated school fees worth thousands of dollars to twenty students at Ming Chang primary school.
This follows similar donations, which have been made annually, ever since the company handed over the primary school to local authorities, after the completion of construction work in 2016.
The miner has committed to increasing the number of beneficiaries, which are drawn from the vulnerable and high performing students.
Ming Chang general manager, Liang Guo Du, said:
“We want to reaffirm our commitment to the communities in which we work across Zimbabwe and emphasise that children are the future, they are the superstars of the future, that’s why we invest in them.
“We are laying a foundation for the Shamva community to compete beyond their small town for employment and professional success.
“We are planting a seed from the bottom of our hearts and we want to challenge the children to work hard and prepare for greater challenges in life.
“Above all, every child deserves decent education, that’s why we invested in this school and made sure there was furniture and computers, when we opened.”
Ming Chang Primary School head, Itai Mutizwa, said the school has grown since its opening in 2016 and it now has 650 students, 337 of which are girls.
“We need two new classroom blocks because our school is growing,” said Mutizwa.
“Teachers are commuting from as far as Bindura, which is costly for them, and it compromises on the quality of education, including for our exam classes.
“That’s why we also need accommodation for the teachers,” he said.
Ming Chang plant manager, Mairos Kariza, said the company was reviewing its corporate social responsibility strategy to be more comprehensive.
“Education is a major area of focus to protect the girl child.
“We have witnessed cases of early child marriages and we believe giving children and, in particular the girl child, a fair and decent opportunity to go to school will protect them from such abuse,” Kariza said.
Ming Chang is one of the major gold producers in the country with operations across the ten provinces.
It employs thousands of locals across its projects.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter