The Herald (Harare)
Roselyne Sachiti
2 November 2009
opinion
Harare — A GRADE Four pupil Nyasha Runowanda sits on a small chair and rests his tiny arms on a shiny new desk as he attentively listens to his teacher at St Paul's Satellite Primary School in Gokwe.
The combined scent of cement, adhesive putty, paint and new furniture fills up the air in the classroom, which has been in use for only three months.
The visibly enthusiastic Nyasha is among the first 450 children from Gokwe Business Centre and surrounding rural areas to benefit from the new school being constructed by the Roman Catholic Church.
Although the construction of the school, which is valued at 320 000 euros, is not yet complete it has already opened its doors to learners.
It comes as a blessing for many primary school children who used to walk considerable distances of up to 10 kilometres to the nearest affordable ones in the rural areas.
For others, the opportunity to attend the new school, which is acting as a satellite centre for a Catholic-run primary school, while awaiting complete registration means they will no longer have to learn from overcrowded classrooms.
"We were touched by the plight of many less-privileged children in the area who were walking long distances to the nearest schools in the surrounding areas.
"The most affected children were those who could not afford to pay school fees charged at the two schools at the business centre.
"The two primary schools at the business centre were also overwhelmed by the increased numbers of pupils," said Roman Catholic Bishop of Gokwe Diocese Right Reverend Angelo Floro.
He said only 10 percent of students attending class at the two schools came from the business centre while 90 percent were from rural areas when he first arrived in Gokwe in 1998.
Right Rev Floro added that the population at the business centre continued to balloon because of various factors resulting in the two primary schools failing to cope with the number of children.
As the population of Gokwe centre grew, the church concentrated on constructing schools in Binga and other remote areas of Gokwe.
Residential areas that include Mapfungautsi, Nyaradza, Sagame 1 and 2, and Green Valley grew at a fast rate.
Meanwhile, no support services like schools were constructed to cater for the growing population creating high demand for primary education.
"That is when we realised the urgent need to seek funds and help the children get better education.
"We spoke to council who offered us land to build the school," said Right Rev Floro.
Right Rev Floro revealed that construction of the school began in January last year and the first two phases have been completed.
He said the third phase, which would result in the construction of six more blocks housing 12 more classrooms, would kick off next year. He added that the fourth and final phase would begin as soon as they receive funds.
"We have constructed six blocks with 12 classrooms so far. We are only using six classrooms and hope that we will be using all by the end of the year. We will build six more blocks and increase classes to Grade 7," he added.
He said their dream is to seek more funds to construct a secondary school in the area.
Right Rev Floro added that all the six classroom blocks have been roofed, plastered and window framed and what remained was the flooring and window panes.
The school has tap water while students and teachers are currently using Blair toilets.
He revealed that so far the total cost of constructing the school and purchasing furniture was 240 000 euros for the first three phases. The fourth and final phase is expected to cost 80 000 euros.
Right Rev Floro said Manos Unidas, a Roman Catholic Women's organisation based in Spain donated the money.
"The Catholic women from Spain are helping us in many ways. They gave financial support for drilling three boreholes in Gokwe North and are also helping with food handouts.
"We also received a donation of 11 200 euros from the Mission Childhood Catholic Organisation today and hope it will go a long way in helping needy children," he added.
He also said they expect to officially open the school in January 2011.
"Our major challenge is the shortage of textbooks. All those wishing to help can get in touch with us," he said.
He said they have set up a scholarship fund, which will pay school fees for disadvantaged students.
Teacher-in-charge of the satellite school, Mrs Seritha Pepukai said the school has three Grade 1 classes, four Grade 2 classes , two Grade 3 classes and one Grade 4 class.
The school has three Grade 0 classes, which are operating from a church hall.
She said the satellite school has 10 teachers, a number that would increase as soon as the school construction is complete.
She added that because of overwhelming response by the community, the current teacher to student ratio was 1:48 although it is supposed to be 1:40.
Residents have welcomed the construction of the school saying it had come at a time when most children had dropped out of school.
"We did not get much from cotton sales last season and did not have money to pay school fees.
"Our children especially girls have stopped going to school and this worried us day and night.
"The construction of the school is a relief as my children are back in school. The fees are minimal and stationery is provided for by the school though it is not adequate," said villager Mrs Anna Chirombo.
Another parent, Mr James Chipere, welcomed the opening of the school saying it had lessened the burden on the other two primary schools.
"Our children can now concentrate on their studies as they no longer walk long distances.
"We used to wake them at four in the morning so that that they get to school on time, but now all has changed," he said.
Since Independence in 1980, Zimbabwe has made excellent commitment towards affording its citizens education making the country second only to Tunisia in terms of literacy rates in Africa.
Zimbabwe's literacy rate stands at over 96 percent.
With only six years until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Zimbabwe has made strides in meeting MDG number two, which seeks to achieve universal primary education despite the hardships in the past years.
One of the targets of MDG two says by 2015, all children should complete a full course of primary schooling.
It also seeks the enrolment of all children in primary education, the completion of primary education and literacy of 15 to 24- year-olds.
Zimbabwe is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, which explicitly says children have the right to education and the State, has the duty to ensure that primary education, at least, is made free and compulsory.
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