The school was built in 1952 and is on the verge of collapse. In the last 10 years, the school has witnessed a massive exodus of teachers while enrolment has continued to grow. One teacher is made to teach both grade one and grade two pupils in one combined class. Grades three, four and five are also combined, as are grades six and seven.
The school headmaster, Stan Name, expressed his concern.
“The situation here is severe. The infrastructure is dilapidated. It is very risky to conduct lessons in these classes. We are now appealing for assistance from the corporate world and development partners. Failure to get a helping hand soon would spell disaster.”
Name said they were concerned about the safety of the children.
“The roofs are unstable and during periods of bad weather we are forced to relocate to a nearby shed,” he said.
He added that the school infrastructure needed urgent attention.
“We cannot do anything as the parents are rural peasants who can barely afford the school fees,” said Name.
In spite of the parents’ situation, many had contributed to the construction of a new school.
“A decision was made to relocate the school to another site. We have constructed two classroom blocks and toilets but we failed to complete them after we ran out of funds.”
A teacher at the school, Alexander Chitsike, said although he had no plans to leave the school, he lacked motivation to teach.
“We are not motivated to be here because of the infrastructure and the overall working conditions. But we have vowed not to leave this school because we feel if the school gets the required assistance the situation will improve,” he said.
Name said that in spite of the infrastructure crisis and teacher apathy, they managed to score 95,7 percent pass rate in Grade Seven last year.
Post published in: News