Bulawayo schools in top 10 of Zimbabwe mega schools

MPOPOMA High School and Mahlathini Primary School in Bulawayo have the largest learner population in the city with a combined estimate of more than 5 000 pupils and hundreds of teachers making it into the country's top 10 schools with mega populations.

This situation has been attributed to limited space for expansion, rapid population growth, and a general shortage of schools in the city and country at large.

Mpopoma High School has an enrolment of over 3 000 learners and over 100 teachers while Mahlathini Primary, which is located in Cowdray Park suburb, has 2 844 learners and 96 teachers. Ten of the teachers are males and 86 are females.

The situation however, is not unique to Bulawayo alone as schools like Kuwadzana 1 High fall into the same category of mega schools together with others found in the high-density suburbs across the country. Zanu-PF Member of Parliament aspirant for Cowdray Park, who is also the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Prof Mthuli Ncube has however, pledged to fundraise for the construction of extra classroom blocks for Mahlathini Primary School owing to its huge enrolment. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Director of Communications and Advocacy Mr Taungana Ndoro acknowledged the existence of mega schools in the country.

"Mahlathini Primary School is one of the mega schools that we have in Zimbabwe probably in the top 10 list of schools with a large enrolment. In Bulawayo, we have Mpopoma High School with the largest population of learners and their teachers, with numbers hovering at about 3 000 learners and over 100 teachers. You find out that such schools need one headmaster and two deputy headmasters to manage the school owing to the numbers. This situation is different however, in our rural schools where the full complement of learners is around 300 only versus mega schools which are about 10 schools in one," he said.

Mr Ndoro said Kuwadzana 1 High School in Harare also had a huge population and said there is a need to increase learning space.

"In a bid to assist the situation we have also embarked on a refurbishment of schools in the country to spruce up what is available and also building new schools where possible. We want to build new schools and expand the ones that are available to adequately accommodate more learners but land is an issue, if we do get more land we can build satisfactorily. If you look at Mpopoma High School you find out that the school has run out of land, the only possible way to increase buildings is if we build high rise buildings, that is the only way to have more blocks. Land is scarce at some of these schools," he said.

The Ministerial spokesperson however, commended efforts that were being put in place by Minister Ncube to build the extra classrooms at Mahlathini, saying it will go a long way in decongesting the school.

"We appreciate the efforts of Mthuli Ncube who has come in to assist in building additional classroom blocks at Mahlathini Primary School. We appreciate that he also wants to eventually build more schools to assist the learners. We have partners like Latter Day Saints and others who are complementing Government efforts in providing classrooms for the learners," said Mr Ndoro.

Bulawayo City Council corporate communications manager Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said the challenges related to huge enrolments include inadequate furniture and inadequate textbooks, among others.

"There is congestion and infrastructure is overloaded which increases wear and tear, it is difficult to produce quality results, there are inadequate sporting facilities and additional ablution facilities are required," said Mrs Mpofu.

Councillor for Cowdray Park, Kidwell Mujuru also weighed in saying schools were few in the constituency.

"We are serviced by only five primary schools in Cowdray Park, versus a population of 75 000. We are looking at more than 2 000 learners at Mahlathini only, things like furniture are then a challenge, also teachers too, the school is falling short in that area and it is a cause for concern. We would appreciate more schools because learners' numbers keep increasing," said Clr Mujuru.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is on record saying no learner should walk or commute to a school that is more than five to 10 kilometres away from their homes but some learners in Cowdray Park are being forced to attend schools in nearby suburbs owing to the shortage of schools nearest them.