The Sunday Mail
Zimbabwe is facing massive shortage of basic education facilities and requires an additional 2 056 primary and secondary schools to meet the growing demand spurred by the emergence of communities in resettlement farming areas since 2000.
A Schools Infrastructure Audit conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in December last year revealed the startling deficit.
Official statistics show that the country has just over 8 060 primary and secondary schools which are inadequate to serve the country’s growing young population. Zimbabwe has a school-going population of over 4,7 million people.
However, education experts say it is ironic that Zimbabwe continues to be on the international map with high literacy rates.
According to a latest study by the African Economist, literacy in the country is the highest in Africa standing at 90,7 percent followed by Equatorial Guinea at 87 percent and South Africa at 86 percent.
The magazine defines literacy as the ability to read and write at the age of 15 and above.
At the back of these achievements, the infrastructure audit shows that at least 1 425 schools are required in rural areas to serve children from part of the 276 000 households allocated land by Government during the land reform programme over the last 15 years.
The report further noted that pupils in farming areas were forced to travel distances averaging at least six kilometres to and from school. Government and local communities having built around 1 500 satellite schools in these areas but the learning institutions remain inadequate with the majority being makeshift structures. Most of such schools are not legally registered with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and hence they do not receive budgetary support.
Responding to debate points raised by child parliamentarians at the opening of the 22nd Session of the Children’s Parliament in Harare recently, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora said the schools deficit had become a barrier to access to education.
“Government is aware that the distance between schools has become an impediment to access to education particularly in commercial farming areas. In December we carried out an infrastructure audit across the country and found that countrywide we have a deficit of over 2 056 schools, with 1 425 needed in commercial farming areas.
“In most of these areas we have satellite schools where tobacco barns are being used as classrooms.
“We also have cases where children are walking at least 3km one way everyday to school.” The schools shortage has also been linked to the high drop-out rate which Government says stands at up to 300 000. According to the 2012 National Population Census, at least 12 percent of Zimbabweans aged between three and 24 years have never been to school while 58 percent are currently in school.
At 14 percent, Mashonaland Central has the highest proportion of people who have never been to school, while at 6,4 percent Manicaland has the lowest.
