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Oliver Kazunga Senior Reporter
THE government will starting this year disburse about $4 million annually under the $20 million grant from the Opec Fund for International Development for the construction of 17 satellite schools countrywide.

Last August, the government through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education flighted an advertisement inviting partners to help with the project.

Satellite schools are those that are not properly registered due to various reasons and operate under another school’s name.

The institutions will be built in different parts of the country’s resettlement areas including in Matabeleland North where Kokoloza and Jabulani satellite schools would be constructed.

Responding to a question from Binga South legislator Joel Gabuza in Parliament last week, Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister Professor Paul Mavhima said the 17 schools would be built together with teachers’ houses.

“The $20 million the Honourable Member is talking about is a new loan, which we’ve directed towards the construction of satellite schools. We’re targeting 17 of them and this is going to be a complete construction of each of those schools together with the teachers’ houses. If science laboratories or workshops are needed, it’s going to be used there. The disbursement of that loan is going to be at the rate of about $4million per year,” he said.

The funding comes at a time when the government has a national deficit of 2,056 schools. The government targets to construct four satellite schools this year.

Categories for the schools to be constructed under the loan facility were: small schools with an expected enrolment of up to 500 pupils, medium with an enrolment of up to 1,000 and large schools with a capacity of 1,600 pupils.

It is hoped that the project will be based on the models that have been developed by the Ministries of Primary and Secondary Education, and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

Prof Mavhima said school infrastructure development is one of his ministry’s key priority areas adding that they were doing everything possible to ensure proper facilities are put up at all satellite schools. “Satellite schools are also being prioritised under the Public Sector Investment Programme since they have the greatest need in terms of infrastructure development. The ministry is cognisant of the mammoth task it’s seized with in terms of school infrastructure development. That is why we’ve embarked on joint venture partnerships, infrastructure bonds and the payment of a building levy, so that we’re able to put up proper infrastructure at every school in Zimbabwe.”