Cephas Shava
Mwenezi – Long neglected Chikokoko Primary School in remote Mwenezi East’s ward 13 which, since its inception in 2003, has been operating without a single classroom block had its site finally pegged making it officially permanent following a recent report by TellZimNews which exposed the dire conditions which innocent ‘forgotten’ pupils had been accustomed to for several years now.
Soon after the report a team comprising of Mwenezi District Development Coordinator (DDC) Isaac Mutambara, Chief Chitanga born Feleni Chauke , education officials, local Authority representatives, local leadership and other concerned stakeholders convened at Chikokoko Primary School on Wednesday, June 7, where a consensus was reached and the school’s site was finally pegged on a 12 hectare piece of land.
Mwenezi DDC Mutambara confirmed the visit vowing that within two months some classroom blocks would have been erected at Chikokoko Primary School’s new site.
“All concerned stakeholders including Chief Chitanga himself were on the ground at Chikokoko Primary School where the Department of Physical Planning finally managed to peg the school’s site. We are more than ready to urgently work on this school and I can safely tell you that within two months some classroom blocks would have been erected as some material is already available at the site, “said Mutambara.
On her part, the local village head, Selina Mandindani who is also the School Development Committee (SDC) member expressed gratitude over the development saying she was already in the process of mobilizing locals in clearing the new school site.
She said the unbearable conditions at the school which has made parents to devalue the significance of sending their children to Chikokoko as well as the unfavorable conditions which has forced teachers not to stay longer there is definitely going to be the thing of the past.
“The community is really happy as the authorities finally responded to our long unanswered calls. The school’s site was pegged just adjacent to the site where the current schools’ makeshift structures are situated. We have mobilized locals and the clearance of the area has begun.
“We are hoping that authorities will also expeditiously peg a secondary school nearby because as it stands we do not have any in our area. The nearest Secondary School is about 23 kilometers away,” said Mandindani.
The seriously understaffed school where grades are combined has about 230 pupils and is manned by four female teachers.
During lessons pupils sit on the ground under makeshift structures built of wooden poles with grass thatched roofs. Teachers and pupils share only two toilets which are available for the entire school.
The two decade delay in the pegging of the School’s site has necessitated underdevelopment resulting in pupils conducting lessons under unimaginable conditions since time immemorial.
Mwenezi District, which is largely resettlement has very few schools and a number of communities have their children travel very long distances to the nearest school.
Last year during the official commissioning of a classroom block at one such school Turf Nyangambe Primary School, Mwenezi West MP Priscilla Zindari Moyo said bearucracy was hindering development in Mwenezi as communities were being tossed around offices before being approved to do development like constructing schools.
