Staff Reporter
Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED) Zedius Chitiga has praised Sandon Academy for its visible commitment to quality education and for introducing a primary school which would serve the local community and beyond.
Chitiga said Sandon Academy, which is located in Gutu district some few kilometres from Mpandawana along the highway to Chivhu, was a model school which should inspire the kind of infrastructure that an ideal education sector must have across the board.
Chitiga said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education welcomed private enterprise in the education system as long as all government requirements and standards are adhered to.
“We welcome such developments, because the ministry’s responsibility starts at Early Childhood Development (ECD) right up to ‘A’ level so if one brand offers all that education at one place, then our worries would end,” said Chitiga
He said having both primary and secondary levels at one school could be helpful in creating continuity and shaping required behavioral patterns among children.
“If a pupil starts from ECD to A level at the same institution, bad behaviour could be curbed at an early stage and the child will get used to the same standards and pace that has been taught to him/her since beginning from the elementary stage,” Chitiga said.
He added that it was easier to take care of a secondary pupil who has been with the institution from infancy since the rules, policies and methods of that particular school would become familiar.
“I urge other privately-run schools to do more by creating the right learning environment for the benefit of our pupils. The idea is to produce a fully-equipped child who will be ready to deal with the challenges of the future,” he said.
Sandon Academy began as a High School three years ago but doors will be opened for the first batch of primary pupils in January 2019.
