Tendai Charumbira
Pupils at Guni Primary School in Gutu South constituency of Masvingo are reportedly learning in the open after classrooms were destroyed by heavy rains sometime in April this year.
It is reported that some of the classrooms that were renovated after developing damages in 2021 later developed cracks due to the heavy rains the area experienced in April 2022 leaving the classrooms in a bad condition not appropriate for pupils to use.
A source privy to the matter at the school, who refused to be named said sometime last year the school failed to open following the destruction of toilets and classroom blocks by a heavy hailstorm which swept across the region in 2021.
“There was a heavy hailstorm in 2021 which caused Guni primary to delay opening due destruction of sanitary facilities and buildings,” said the source.
He further said that the school was then renovated and it was opened but currently there is a new challenge as pupils are currently learning outside classrooms due to cracked classroom buildings which the authorities fear could collapse and thus the decision to conduct lessons under tree shades.
“Right now pupils are learning outside as the classrooms were again damaged by the heavy rains in April 2022,” added the source.
Contacted for comment the head of Guni primary said she was not in a position to comment on the matter as she is not authorized to do so.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED) Shylatte Mhike could not comment on the matter as she said the report had not yet reached her office.
The state of some schools especially those in remote areas has been sorrowful due to lack of proper learning facilities and poor working conditions for teachers.