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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, [email protected]

TSHOLOTSHO businessman Mr Gift Nkomo is constructing a private primary boarding school in the district which is expected to enrol its first group of pupils in 2026.

The school, which is called Valley View Primary, will be the first primary boarding school in Tsholotsho and the second private school in the district after Royal Avenues High School in Ward 15 under Chief Gampu. 

Royal Avenues High School, which is also still under construction, is owned by two South African-based businessmen, Mr Lancelot Sithole and Mr Never Ngwenya.

Other schools with boarding facilities in Tsholotsho are Tsholotsho High School and Khumbula High School while Nemane and Landa John Nkomo offer semi-boarding facilities.

“I intend to construct a state-of-the-art school in Tsholotsho. I expect to have completed one classroom block before the end of the year. Desks and chairs for learners and teachers have already been secured,” said Mr Nkomo.

“When we open in 2026, we will have Early Childhood Education (ECD) A and B and Grade One up to Grade Five. In 2027, we will have Grade Six.”

Mr Nkomo said he observed that pupils are walking long distances to the nearest school.

“I want to have a self-reliant institution that will run along the same lines as the Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (Zimfep) vision which has eight primary and secondary schools under its belt,” he said.

ZIMFEP is an organisation under the Zanu-PF Department of Education and was established before independence at refugee camps in Zambia and Mozambique to help youths who had dropped out of school to join the liberation struggle.

Mr Nkomo said as part of having a self-sustaining school, the school will have income generating projects such as market gardening.