School shares 2 classrooms

are sharing just two classrooms.
Parents and guardians built the school so that their children would not have to trek 20km to an alternative secondary school.
The two classrooms cater for all the pupils.
Form 1 and 2 pupils share one class while those in Form 3 and 4 occupy another.
The two sets in each class face away from each other towards different blackboards used by their respective teachers.
The teachers divide their activities so that at any given time one is conducting a lecture while the other is writing notes on the board.
The school enrolled 150 pupils this year and there are five teachers.
Of these, three are qualified and they are teaching eight subjects.
The teacher-pupil ratio is about 1:40 and there is just one class per stream.
During internal examinations, questions are written on the board rather than giving each pupil his/her own question paper.
Teachers rarely last a term at the school and this could also be destabilising the pupils’ educational development.
In an interview with The Herald last Friday, headmistress of Mabvudzijena Secondary School, Mrs Racheal Nyasvimbo, said the situation was critical and needed urgent attention.
“I have been at this school for a year now, but the situation is desperate. It is very hard to adapt, mainly because of the infrastructure, learning materials and the attitude of the pupils in general.
“Imagine teaching pupils of different forms in one class?
“The concentration of the pupils is consequently disrupted since these children are learning different subjects and are at different levels.
“Since the school was started, the pass rates have been a disaster due to the ever-changing staff and lack of learning materials.
“Thirty pupils share one textbook. This results in pupils losing interest.
“Some even spend two months away from school and resurface when they want to,” she said.
She said qualified teachers did not want to work in such an environment.
There is little staff accommodation, no payment of incentives as in urban schools and they are required to teach at least three subjects each.
“Most of the teachers deployed at this school come from far away so they need somewhere to stay but we have only one house, which accommodates four teachers.
“There are water shortages and we have to walk long distances to get water and still be expected in class on time,” she added.
Mrs Nyasvimbo said they use a small storeroom as the main office, library and staff room.
To get into this room one has to first enter a class.
School Development Committee chairperson, Ms Loice Mahachi, said: “We are a bankrupt school that relies on financially-challenged parents.
“Half of the children at this school come to school without paying a single cent. The school fees is pegged at US$20 per child but many parents fail to pay this amount.”
The local MP Cde Sylvester Nguni and a mystery benefactor that villagers only refer to as Mr Chirikure, have been donating cash and materials for the school to build another block.
Cde Nguni said, “The first time I got to the school I was so devastated to see children learning in such conditions.”
He said they were using the Constituency Development Fund to improve the situation.
“These children have got the urge to learn but without the infrastructure, learning materials and adequate teaching staff, their dreams are going to be shattered. Pupils at Mabvudzijena Secondary School need the nation’s attention.
“These children are our future so why not help when the time still permits us and not let the generation blame us as their forefathers for our failures?
“I am appealing to those who can help with whatever they can so that these children are empowered through education.”
A Form 4 pupil spoke of the unhelpful learning environment.
“Every month we change teachers and we learn new things every time a new teacher comes in and this confuses us as pupils, especially the ones sitting for the examinations.”