News / National
Zimbabwe needs additional 2 800 schools
24 Oct 2023 at 00:53hrs | Views
Primary and Secondary Education's permanent secretary Mr Moses Mhike said this while reviewing the Ministry's budget with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education.
Zimbabwe is in need of an additional 2 800 schools for education to be accessible to every child throughout the country, a senior official has said.
Primary and Secondary Education's permanent secretary Mr Moses Mhike said this while reviewing the Ministry's budget with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education.
Mr Mhike said more schools are needed to reduce the distance that learners travel to access education.
"The issue of schools has continued to be a problem. We have a shortage of schools across all our provinces.
"We have a need of about 2 800 schools that are needed for us to be able to have all our children access education and so that we do not have our pupils travelling 10, 15 or so kilometres to access educational services," he said.
He said already there are 1 624 satellite schools which the Ministry has earmarked for upgrading.
There are about 10 000 schools in Zimbabwe, at least 6 798 of them being primary and 2 980 secondary.
Mr Mhike said some of the Ministry's budget priorities for 2024 include textbooks for learners.
"We also need to avail textbooks to our schools and this has been a challenge.
"We have got a new competence-based curriculum and we would need our teaching and learning to move in that direction," he said.
He said like other departments, the Ministry's 2023 budget allocation was not spared from inflation.
"Whatever we budgeted for at the beginning of the year and we were given, if we then translate it now it will be seriously eroded and we believe the monetary and fiscal authorities will assist," he said.
Mr Mhike said the country was also facing a shortage of teachers for science, technology and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
"We will need to work very closely with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education so that we can be able to produce STEM subject specialists," he said.
Zimbabwe is in need of an additional 2 800 schools for education to be accessible to every child throughout the country, a senior official has said.
Primary and Secondary Education's permanent secretary Mr Moses Mhike said this while reviewing the Ministry's budget with the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education.
Mr Mhike said more schools are needed to reduce the distance that learners travel to access education.
"The issue of schools has continued to be a problem. We have a shortage of schools across all our provinces.
"We have a need of about 2 800 schools that are needed for us to be able to have all our children access education and so that we do not have our pupils travelling 10, 15 or so kilometres to access educational services," he said.
He said already there are 1 624 satellite schools which the Ministry has earmarked for upgrading.
There are about 10 000 schools in Zimbabwe, at least 6 798 of them being primary and 2 980 secondary.
Mr Mhike said some of the Ministry's budget priorities for 2024 include textbooks for learners.
"We also need to avail textbooks to our schools and this has been a challenge.
"We have got a new competence-based curriculum and we would need our teaching and learning to move in that direction," he said.
He said like other departments, the Ministry's 2023 budget allocation was not spared from inflation.
"Whatever we budgeted for at the beginning of the year and we were given, if we then translate it now it will be seriously eroded and we believe the monetary and fiscal authorities will assist," he said.
Mr Mhike said the country was also facing a shortage of teachers for science, technology and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
"We will need to work very closely with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education so that we can be able to produce STEM subject specialists," he said.
Source - New Ziana.
