Zimbabwe govt blames land shortage on failure to build schools

GOVERNMENT says it has failed to meet its target to build more schools to ensure quality learning because of land shortage, but critics said authorities were not serious.

Students in marginalised areas and satellite schools have been learning under trees, open spaces and in barns for years owing to lack of classrooms and supporting infrastructure.

In cities, public schools are always overcrowded because of a shortage of classrooms.

Available statistics indicate that the country needs approximately 2 800 new schools to decongest public learning facilities.

Primary and Secondary Education permanent secretary, Moses Mhike, however, said there was a shortage of land to accommodate more expansive structures.

"Basically you need 3,5 hectares in order to have a primary school and you need 7 hectares to be able to have a secondary school," Mhike told NewsDay.

"You need approximately 30 hectares to build a boarding school but we are saying that land is not going to expand in Zimbabwe."

During election campaigns President Emmerson Mnangagwa promised to build more schools and introduce basic free education.

In November 2021, the government also announced that it was going to construct 3 000 schools that included boarding facilities by 2025.

The targets have been missed.

"We need to think outside the box, that's why I think let's accommodate the issue of densification. Let's build upwards, you can be able to build a good primary school on a hectare and everything can happen," he added.

However, unions representing teachers said government's failure to build more schools was because of misplaced priorities.

Educators Union of Zimbabwe secretary, Tapedza Zhou, said: "I don't understand when the government says that there is a shortage of land when the same government has been acquiring land since 2000."

Zhou said most public schools were in deplorable state due to abuse of funds and neglect.

"If the government had the will and if it considered education as a priority, it was supposed to channel the funds obtained through corruption and misplaced priorities to build schools on land which is abandoned," he added.

Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe leader, Obert Masaraure, said the education sector was suffering from neglect.

"On one hand the government failed to adequately plan for access to education whenever it allocated residential stands in urban areas," Masaraure said.

Masaraure urged the government to set up an education equalisation fund for school infrastructure development.

"Local authorities should also prioritise access to education parcelling all the land out for residential purposes is retrogressive since the residents will still need education," he added.