Chronicle EditorThupeyo Muleya, [email protected]
ZIMBORDERS Consortium, a company that spearheaded the US$300 million Beitbridge Border Post modernisation project, has donated 13 mobile science laboratories to selected rural secondary schools in the district.
The donation follows a recent donation of 100 bicycles to female learners in rural schools in Beitbridge as part of efforts to address challenges facing the girl child in terms of access to education.
Due to long distances, some learners, especially girls, were forced to drop out of school. Beitbridge District has 19 rural secondary schools yet only five of them have science laboratories.
The lack of facilities has hindered the teaching and learning of science subjects, relegating many schools to focus solely on human sciences. The mobile science laboratories, manufactured by the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and sourced by Raubex Construction — one of the companies forming the Zimborders Consortium — represent a significant stride towards educational equity.
Zimborders Consortium’s environmental and community relations officer, Mrs Kiliboni Ndou-Mbedzi said they mobilised the laboratories as part of efforts to complement the Government in terms of improving the quality of education.
“The bus laboratories are powered by liquid petroleum gas which is readily available. We hope this comes as a huge relief to learners in those secondary schools which are yet to be connected to the national electricity grid,” she said.
Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi said the donation aligns with the company’s broader efforts to support community projects identified during the border transformation project.
“During the border transformation project, our project liaison committee identified several community projects, which we are now prioritising. In 2022, we mobilised 100 bicycles and initiated the construction of the mobile laboratories through the National University of Science and Technology,” she said.
Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi expressed optimism that the availability of these facilities would lead to improved performance in science-related subjects.
The new mobile laboratories are expected to benefit about 1 560 students from Form One to Four annually across the recipient schools. The selection of these schools was overseen by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, ensuring that the most in-need institutions received the resources.
“From our projections based on standard classroom composition, we expect at least 1 560 pupils from Form One to Four to benefit from the facilities every year in all the schools that benefited,” said Mrs Ndou-Mbedzi.
Beitbridge District schools’ inspector, Mr Mbofholoho Muleya commended Zimborders Consortium for the gesture, saying it will revolutionise STEM education in rural areas.
He urged the heads of the benefiting schools to prioritise the maintenance and effective use of the mobile laboratories, with the aim of having students sit for hard sciences examinations in the coming academic years. Mr Muleya said due to a shortage of science laboratories, most secondary schools in the district, especially in the rural areas focused on the teaching of human sciences.
“We are expecting that to change soon following this donation. I want to implore heads of the benefiting schools to ensure that next year we have candidates sitting for sciences examinations,” said Mr Muleya.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Beitbridge West legislator, Cde Thusani Ndou said the donation is in alignment with President Mnangagwa’s goal of inclusive development that leaves no one and no place behind, and the Government’s ongoing efforts to enhance educational infrastructure and digital capabilities across the country.
“Our children are no longer going to remain behind as far as the teaching of critical science subjects is concerned. In the same vein, it is important to note that the development and improvement of the education sector require a collective effort,” he said.
“A critical shortage of resources and infrastructure has previously been a challenge in our district hence Government has been rolling out several initiatives to address service delivery in the education sector.”
The development comes at a time when the Second Republic is already in overdrive to establish state-of-the-art ICT laboratories in schools countrywide in a bid to renew learning methods and establish a more active collaboration of students and the simultaneous acquisition of technological knowledge.
President Mnangagwa recently donated 300 computers to 10 schools in Matabeleland South to enhance digitisation and the use of ICT in the education sector.
This development is part of a broader effort by the Second Republic to improve the education sector, including the establishment of state-of-the-art ICT laboratories in schools.
Online Reporter