By Nathan Guma
IT is 5AM and the asphalt stretch from Mutoko Center, past Nyamakwere Lodges down to Mutoko High School is strewn with learners that are making their way to nearby schools.
While there are a few schools in the area close to Mutoko Center, they are sparsely populated which has seen some learners, particularly from rural areas walk long distances to school.
“Some of the institutions are closeby, but I will have to walk some seven kilometers from here,” Tinashe Mukaro says a learner from Mutoko Government High School. “I learn at Government High. Some of the students have to walk even further to access schools.”
The government is building schools to promote quality education, but data has shown that most learners in rural areas are still walking long distances to school, raising calls for inclusive and accessible education
More children in rural Mutoko have had to face Mukaro’s fate.
For instance, more while there several learning institutions in Mutoko, most of them are conveniently located close to the built-up residential area, which has seen children from areas like Kawere and Madziwa walking long distances to access cheaper and affordable learning institutions.
“So what happens is that most of the leaners go to secondary schools that are far away because of the distance. For instance, there is Mutoko High School,” says Tsigisai Kawerenga, Leader for Child Care (LCC) in Mutoko.
“We cannot afford their fees, despite the school being just two kilometers from our residential area. So this is why some of the learners have to walk from Madziwa to Kaunye, some seven kilometers from here because of the fees structure.
“Parents have to balance everything. They have to buy food and also pay fees and everything, which makes it even difficult for the children. I think the situation would be better if there are more secondary schools with affordable fees.”
The state of schools across the country has been worrisome across the country, with new data showing that most schools are still located outside the prescribed five-kilometer radius, which has seen some leaners missing out on quality education.
For instance, recent research by the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) has shown that over 82% of the schools in Gokwe now require extensive renovations including new roofing, with 12 schools having their roofs blown off by severe rain induced winds.
The study has also shown that the District Council also has a weak resources base to sustain health and education service delivery without the support of central government through grants, with learners having to walk an average distance of 9.1km and 13.3km to school and clinic respectively.
“Whereas this is high, council is courting development partners in an effort to reduce the distances to 4.8km and 6.2km,” reads the research.
The education sector has also been hit by extreme staffing issues highlighted by massiv resignations of teachers and health staff for greener pastures in Europe and North America.
“To further worsen brain drain is the issue of low morale in the education and health sector due to poor salaries and declining living conditions. Over 83% of the schools and clinics in the district lack both piped water and electricity,” it reads.
“To compliment teachers and sustain low salaries, 75% of parents in urban centers and boarding schools are paying teachers for extra lessons. However, due to high poverty prevalence and weak incomes, 96% of parents in Gokwe South RDC cannot afford the cost of extra lessons.”
Children have been walking long distances in Gokwe.
For instance, students from Boyi travel 14 kilometers to Nyoka Secondary school, while those from Kwaramba and Zambezi Primary School areas travel distances ranging from 8km to 11km going to the same secondary school.
Students from Svosve Village travel an average of 12.5 kilometers to Batanai Secondary School. Long distances to Batanai Secondary School led to establishment of Muonde satellite secondary school as part of efforts to decongest the former and reduce distances travelled by learners.
However, the government says that residential areas should be built close to schools for ease of access.
“A school is allocated space by the government, the residential areas have to be built around the schools. It is the other way round. A school or a residential area has to be built first, then the residential area follows after,” said Taungana Ndoro, the director of information in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (Artuz) says that the government has not done much in fulfilling its promise to provide facilities for accessible education, with data showing an influx in satellite and unregistered schools.
“We take note of the shortfall in the number of schools particularly in all areas, in the rural sector where we have learners travelling to both primary and secondary school. Moreover, even at secondary school level, we still have learners some who can even fail to access secondary education due to limited number of secondary schools in their area,” says Rob Chere, Artuz secretary general.
“We have also seen with the coming in of the land reform the government introducing satellite schools. But most of these schools have not yet been regularised. So, they are just functioning, but under the parent schools that are already established. The administration of these schools is still far beyond the infrastructure. And we still have quite a higher number of teacher to pupil ration especially considering the shortage of the schools.”
Statistics
In 2022 statistics by education ministry showed that Mashonaland West has 171 satellite schools, followed by Manicaland with 124.
Urban areas had the least number of satellite schools, with Harare having six, while Bulawayo and Midlands recorded three and five respectively.
Chere said shortage of schools has also seen mushrooming of unregistered schools in both the urban peri-urban areas.
“We have areas like Hopley far, we have Gazebo and Southridge. All those places, you would find that there are no government schools. So at the day’s end, we have people turning bedrooms into schools and calling it a private school and there is no regularisation at all.”
“There is no monitoring from the ministry and we end up seeing children being abused. As a union we would like to urge the government to come up with new programs to have new school to cater for the growing population and also for the new areas in the peri-urban and remote rural areas.
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