Govt must improve farm, rural schools

The Chronicle

By Jonah Nyoni

7 August 2012

Education stands at the centre of all development.

As a result, the improvement of education leads to upgrading of individuals, families and national economies. The attainment of universal primary education is so key to human development that the UN decided to include it in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Former South African President Nelson Mandela once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” The notion that education is the pillar of human development can never be overemphasised.

It is in this context that the situation at satellite, farm or rural schools must be considered. These schools are operational and serving an immense purpose in the community, but more needs to be done to equip them. The needs could be infrastructural, technical or personnel.

For example, there is Chinego Secondary School in Binga, which was established this year. There is a need for boreholes and building of proper classrooms since the pupils learn in huts. There are others like Tabalwa Primary School, Manyanda Secondary School and Mabula Primary School. These schools are playing  an important role and should be taken care of.

Even in some older schools, children sit on concrete floors during lessons, this after having walked long distances to get to school. More to that, some children have to share only a single textbook, if ever there is any. Some schools in Binga have no trained teachers at all yet in other areas, particularly in urban centres, the situation is better.

This urban-rural dichotomy must be a thing of old but has been perpetuated to the disadvantage of the rural child, especially in Binga. This has documented effects on the education of pupils and in the furtherance of their tertiary education.

A recent article in Sunday News read:

“Thousands of schoolchildren in Matabeleland North Province are denied their basic right to education as they lack the provision of proper classrooms, water, sanitation and electricity.”

In the same story it was noted that there are only 26 schools in Matabeleland North offering Advanced Level education and critical subjects like mathematics and science. This is a drawback for most students, especially if they are to seek places in tertiary institutions like universities, colleges and polytechnics.

Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart, made crucial remarks at a classroom commissioning ceremony in Lupane East in Somgolo Primary School a few weeks ago.  He said:

“This is a perpetuation of a negative cycle because children are not getting the quality education they deserve because there are few schools that teach these critical subjects. This is why children have a problem in gaining admission to universities as they lack mathematics and science. This is a poor negative cycle resulting in few science and mathematics teachers and only a few students will also pass them.”

Writing about education in rural South Africa, Michael Gardiner notes a situation synonymous with what we have in rural Zimbabwe.

He says: “Many people and their schools, particularly but not only in rural areas, struggle with real difficulties such as the lack of classrooms, poor access to services such as water and electricity, no landline telephones and hence no Internet, very few public or school libraries and the like. Many of these problems are linked to socio-economic factors, such as poverty and unemployment, and they also have a direct influence on the quality of education that is available to children.”

This researcher noted 10 essential needs that should be met if these rural schools are to achieve better success:
l Clean running water
l Electricity
l Libraries and books
l Laboratories
l Computer laboratories
l Ablution facilities
l Office equipment
l Sports facilities
l Proper infrastructural development
l Skilled personnel

As noted above, strenuous strides should be made to ensure that there is a special focus on these shortcomings. In addition, proper housing, provision of transport, and perhaps other motivational incentives need to be provided to attract and retain trained teachers in satellite rural schools.

There is still a mountain to climb for some schools in Binga to be in conformity with these standards.

However, collaborative and concerted effort can bring about better results. Government and other institutions should work towards the attainment of better learning standards.