Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]

THE Rural Infrastructural Development Agency (Rida) has embarked on a project to construct Bhale Primary and Secondary Schools in Hwange District as Government moves in to improve access to education across the country.

Work commenced in October last year and is envisaged to be completed in December next year. So far, two classroom blocks and two semi-detached teachers’ cottages are at 80 percent completion, according to the Matabeleland North provincial coordinator for Rida, Mr Lawrence Ndebele.

“We are presently constructing Bhale Primary School and once we are done, we will then begin construction of the secondary school,” he told Chronicle.

Mr Ndebele said 32 squat toilets have been completed while two more classroom blocks are at foundation level.

Government through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education envisioned to construct 300 new schools across the country as a means of improving access to quality education by the Second Republic, which is one of the top priorities under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).

Matabeleland North was allocated 10 schools, of which among them are Bhale Primary and Secondary schools.

“Rida was contracted by the ministry to undertake the construction of the new schools in Hwange under the social infrastructure division,” said Mr Ndebele.

He said they will also be digging four solar powered boreholes for use by the school and the community.

Bhale Village is located in ward 13 Hwange Rural District under chief Nekatambe. It is situated 58km away from the mining town of Hwange between Dinde village and Chibhala village.

The village is 20km off the Bulawayo-Victoria Fall’s Road along the recently constructed Dinde- Bhale Road that branches off the highway just close to the toll gate.

Over 500 new schools and an additional 1000 classroom blocks have been constructed across the country in the last five years as the Second Republic accelerates the transformation of the education sector to derive higher development impact for future generations.

Through close collaboration with the private sector and development partners, Zimbabwe, during the period under review, has witnessed the construction of about 1 509 science laboratories while over 600 boreholes have been drilled to improve water and sanitation in schools.

The massive construction projects in schools have been driven mainly by devolution funding and partnerships with development agencies and religious organisations, creating more job opportunities in the process

The milestone developments in the education sector are contained in Zimbabwe’s 2024 Voluntary National Review (VNR) report on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which the country presented before the United Nations.

As a United Nations signatory, Zimbabwe has committed to the implementation of SDGs, which among other things demand equitable access to education and that member countries implement development projects that leave no one and no place behind.

Through leveraging partnerships and using local resources, Zimbabwe has aimed to provide inclusive quality education in line with global standards.

President Mnangagwa

In May this year, while officiating at an organisation of petroleum exporting countries funded schools, President Mnangagwa said education remains one of the central pillars under the Second Republic Government’s endeavours to improve the quality of life of every Zimbabwean, adding that Government is scaling up investment in the education sector to ensure the country’s education product is competitive and relevant to the needs of the nation’s economy and emerging global realities.

“Education remains one of the central pillars of my Government’s endeavours to improve the quality of life of our citizenry’s and ultimately the socio-economic transformation of our country. We are, therefore, scaling up investment in the education sector to ensure the country’s education product is competitive and relevant to the needs of our economy and emerging global realities,” said the President at that time.

President Mnangagwa

“In this regard, heritage based education curriculum now promotes the teaching of science, technology, engineering, Arts and Mathematics disciplines. This has shifted the paradigms in the education sector by nurturing entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors, who must produce goods and services,” said President Mnangagwa.

He said the country must nurture an education system that empowers its young people with the requisite knowledge and skills so that the country is able to feed itself, modernise and industrialise to propel the development of the continent as a whole.