SDA church builds Secondary School in Kusile District

THE Seventh Day Adventist Church has started the construction of Mtshibini Adventist Secondary School in Kusile District, Matabeleland North Province, at its new premises with the first classroom block nearing completion.

The school has been operating from the Mtshibini Adventist Primary School premises since 2015 with Maranatha International providing the pre-fabricated material for classrooms.

Plans are afoot to make the secondary school a low cost boarding facility to help reduce long distances walked by learners.

Ten classrooms structures, an administration block and a toilet block were put up and have been used since the inception of the secondary school while resources to move to the permanent premises were being mobilised.

SDA West Zimbabwe Conference Education Director Dr Christopher Thebe said construction work had begun and plans are at an advanced stage to move the school to its permanent premises.

“The school was built using pre-fabricated material which gave us 10 classroom structures, an administration block and a toilet block for both learners and teachers. The building project which is being carried out is necessitated by two factors which are that the current structures are supposed to work up to a certain period.

“The other factor is that the school is operating from a primary school while its grounds are empty. Because of these reasons, the new classroom block is initiating the building of the school at the proper place using proper material. The school has grown and it is also used by a Roman Catholic school which is yet to be registered as its examination centre,” he said.

Dr Thebe said the church mobilised its members who are artisans from various places together with locals to help in the construction of the first block.

He said the school had its first Ordinary Level candidates in 2018.

“The school has 235 learners and we have 55 learners who will be writing their O-level exams this year. The new block has two classrooms which will provide store rooms which can also serve as offices. Our projection is that within two years, the school would’ve moved out of the primary school to the new premises. Once the first block is done, it will work alongside the pre-fabricated school as the two schools are adjacent to each other. We’re also building a low cost dormitory for girls to help increase the number of learners and financial inflows for more work,” he said.

Dr Thebe said work to replace the pre-fabricated material at Mtshibini Primary School is ongoing with an Early Childhood Development block under construction.

He hailed the local community who are participating in the programme and artisans who volunteered their services to build the block.

The SDA West Zimbabwe Conference runs 10 secondary schools and 24 primary schools in Matabeleland North Province. @themkhust