CHITUNGWIZA - From the outside of Seke 12 primary school everything looks normal. The buildings still stand firm despite their age. But inside, the brutal effects of age are glaring; toilets are blocked and paint is flaking off.Like hundreds other schools in the country, Seke 12 does not have money to spend on necessary renovations, now overdue considering that the school was built in 1988.
According to the Minister of Education Sports and Culture, David Coltart, students are learning in poor sanitary conditions and the government must act urgently.
“We are currently in the process of resuscitating the education sector, which has been for two decades underfunded resulting in the fall of the infrastructure. Currently we are in the process of securing text books and once we are through, we will move on to the next phase, which will focus on the physical restoration of infrastructure and see how much needs to be done,” said Coltart in an exclusive interview last week.
Zimbabwe has arguably the highest number of schools in the region, but two decades of underfunding in the education sector have seen a gradual dilapidation in the structures, most of which were built after independence in the 80s.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the ablution blocks, which are run down and hardly have water. This is especially so in Chitungwiza where the council has failed consistently to provide water – resulting in children carrying bottles of water from home. In the 1990s the unavailability of water meant that students went to school for only half a day.
“Our initial target will be to look at the sanitary conditions of the schools because its important that our children learn in safe environments. In most schools you find out that toilets are in a disgusting condition. Children do not have access to clean water, so before we start rehabilitating administration blocks we have to make sure that every school is safe and has adequate sanitation. That includes water,” said Coltart.
At Seke 12 Primary USAID and UNICEF have came in and have drilled boreholes and also set up water harvesting tanks to help the students have access to clean drinking.
The case is however not the same for toilets. Pupils are now using them irrespective of the availability of water.
The School Development Committee (SDC) embarked on a projected to build new toilets but the project is in limbo after parents failed to fund the project.
“Sometimes the toilets are open but sometimes they are closed because of the unavailability of water. We have built new toilets but they are not open for use,” said a member of the School Development Committee who declined to be named.
“Students at the school are paying $20.00 a month in levies for the improvements of the school, but most of the money is being taken up by the teachers for their pay top ups,” added the member.
Apart from the sanitary conditions, inside the classrooms the floors are potholed and the small classrooms accommodate more than 50 pupils owing to the ever-increasing intakes that are not accompanied by construction of new classrooms.
“The number of students has increased and we need at least eight new classrooms to accommodate them. The increasing numbers also mean that the two toilets are totally inadequate,” said the SDC member.
Post published in: News