By Meditation Mposi
For 24 years, a secondary school in Zaka has managed to construct only three classroom blocks forcing other pupils to learn under trees.
Jinjika secondary school in Ward 33, Zaka North is in dire need of more classroom blocks as the only available classrooms accommodate 300 pupils only, a development which forced the school to drop its enrolment.
Speaking to TellZim News the School Development Committee Chairperson Alerta Magombedze said the school has limited revenue sources as most of the pupils are on government programme, BEAM, and the school has not received the funds for two years now.
“The school is not developing because most of our learners are on BEAM programme and the government make erratic payments. The money we also get from the pupils is not enough to construct even a single classroom block because our enrolment is around 300,” said Magombedze.
“As of now we have bricks which we are planning to use for the construction of another classroom block. The challenge is that we do not have any money to buy building materials,” she added.
Magombedze said the dilapidated infrastructure and working conditions also had a negative impact on the teachers’ side as most of them transferred to better schools.
She mentioned that teachers who come do not stay for long because of the poor conditions at the school.
Magombedze pleaded with relevant authorities to chip in and assist to improve the situation at the school.
“Our children display a lot of potential, we have seen this on our former students who attended their Advanced Level at Mutonhori High where they scored good points.
“We are therefore, asking for help from stakeholders so that we build modern infrastructure at the school,” said Magombedze.
Zaka North Member of Parliament Ophias Murambiwa who chairs the parliamentary portfolio committee on Primary and Secondary Education said there were plans to construct another classroom block at the school.
“We have plans to construct another classroom block at Jinjika. We need help from the community in terms of providing materials like river and pit sand for construction. There have been efforts to reach out to council to assist in the project using devolution funds.
“This problem requires help from various stakeholders. If the school can get more classroom blocks, the environment will be conducive to have more teachers which can translate to better pass rates at the school,” said Murambiwa.
The school has nine teachers out of the required 12 and the school fees is US$60 per term but a bigger number of leaners were not paying due to the prevailing economic challenges. That has made it difficult for the school to develop.
Education in most rural areas in the country has been negatively impacted by lack of proper infrastructure as well as learning materials as most of the schools cannot raise funds for development due to the prevailing harsh economic conditions. Government is also failing to disburse BEAM funds on time.
