News / Local
45% of Cowdray Park children out of school
24 Nov 2015 at 14:07hrs | Views
Mahlathini Primary School in Cowdray Park
A SURVEY by Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre Network (ZWRCN) has revealed that about 45 percent children of school going age in Cowdray Park are not in school owing to lack of primary schools in the Bulawayo suburb.
In an interview the network's vice chairman Ntokozo Nyoni says the two schools that are in the suburb are very far in between and they can't adequately cater to the whole Cowdray Park population.
"We spoke to the headmistress of one of the existing schools and she told us there was a need for another primary school because the classes are over subscribed, as each class has 50 plus pupils, said Nyoni.
According to the education ministry an average primary school class should have 30 pupils.
Nyoni said they also spoke to the community and later found out that mostly Grade Ones and Twos cannot walk five to 10 kilometers from their homes to school.
He said despite the main challenge faced by parents in taking their children to school, another factor was finance while they also fear that if the institution is far their children may be harmed or assaulted.
"There was a situation last year December where a Grade Two pupil was raped coming from school in Luveve as some of the children go to Luveve Primary School," Nyoni said.
He added: "Another thing that we established is that the other part of Cowdray Park, Hlalani Kuhle/ Garikai there is rampant poverty and people have no money to pay for private schools. They need a government school or a city council school close by."
Nyoni appealed to the government and donors to look into the matter with a sense of emergency.
"The future of Zimbabwe lies in those small kids so if we leave them to sit at home there are a lot of things that can take place," said Nyoni.
He says they have made efforts to engage the suburb's councillor to have the local authority building another school in the suburb and made a similar plea to the government.
Cowdray Park is one of Bulawayo's fastest growing high-density suburbs.
ZWRCN is a non- governmental organisation committed to promoting women's social and economic justice in Zimbabwe and globally, through the power of information, networking and strategic advocacy.
In an interview the network's vice chairman Ntokozo Nyoni says the two schools that are in the suburb are very far in between and they can't adequately cater to the whole Cowdray Park population.
"We spoke to the headmistress of one of the existing schools and she told us there was a need for another primary school because the classes are over subscribed, as each class has 50 plus pupils, said Nyoni.
According to the education ministry an average primary school class should have 30 pupils.
Nyoni said they also spoke to the community and later found out that mostly Grade Ones and Twos cannot walk five to 10 kilometers from their homes to school.
He said despite the main challenge faced by parents in taking their children to school, another factor was finance while they also fear that if the institution is far their children may be harmed or assaulted.
"There was a situation last year December where a Grade Two pupil was raped coming from school in Luveve as some of the children go to Luveve Primary School," Nyoni said.
He added: "Another thing that we established is that the other part of Cowdray Park, Hlalani Kuhle/ Garikai there is rampant poverty and people have no money to pay for private schools. They need a government school or a city council school close by."
Nyoni appealed to the government and donors to look into the matter with a sense of emergency.
"The future of Zimbabwe lies in those small kids so if we leave them to sit at home there are a lot of things that can take place," said Nyoni.
He says they have made efforts to engage the suburb's councillor to have the local authority building another school in the suburb and made a similar plea to the government.
Cowdray Park is one of Bulawayo's fastest growing high-density suburbs.
ZWRCN is a non- governmental organisation committed to promoting women's social and economic justice in Zimbabwe and globally, through the power of information, networking and strategic advocacy.
Source - Radio Dialogue
