PRISCA MANYIWA-MASUKU
MIRROR REPORTER

KWEKWE – It is one year down the line and 1 300 Globe and Phoenix Primary School pupils in Kwekwe are still learning from tents after a classroom block collapsed into the ground due to underground activities by illegal gold miners.
Educationists who declined to be named said conditions at Globe and Phoenix are inappropriate as they expose pupils to the vagaries of weather including extreme cold and searing heat.
The tents were at one time blown away by winds during a heavy thunderstorm.
Globe and Phoenix was decommissioned in March last year after one of the classroom blocks curved in and since then pupils are learning from tents pitched at the Sally Mugabe Primary School grounds.
A plan has been drawn out to build a new school at an identified location but the business community including the councillor and top businessman Dr Solomon Matsa who made pledges to fund the construction of classroom blocks are not forthcoming.
The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Torerayi Moyo told journalists on the sidelines of a Training of Trainers workshop held at a local hotel last week that Government and stakeholders are still determined to put up a new school.
Kwekwe is where President Mnangagwa was MP almost all his entire political life. The Midlands town was his power base until he became President in 2017.
Moyo however, told journalists that there is no timeframe to the construction of the school yet.
“The Ministry and its partners have pledged to construct the school and we are on course to achieving and fulfilling that promise. At the moment the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints is mobilising funds.
“We are going to delegate a team to visit the site where the school will be constructed. Although I can’t give time frames as to when exactly the school will be constructed this must be very soon. Ministry officials and the church will visit the site followed by disbursement of funds to construct the school,” said Dr Moyo.
He revealed that individuals like Matsa have pledged to fund the building of a classroom block for the school.
A source however, told The Mirror that plans for the school were drawn and all documentation for the project is in place but what is not there is the money.
“All the paperwork is in place but there is no money to start the project. The school is looking up to Government to assist because even those who pledged are yet to come forward,” said the source.
“The learning environment is tough for children because they are always exposed to bad weather conditions. Last year their tents were blown away during heavy thunderstorms and this heat is also affecting them,” added the source.
Government has been promising to construct a new school since the incident happened and a place to construct the school was identified near Globe and Phoenix Secondary School.