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President Mugabe

Abigail Mawonde Herald Correspondent—

GOVERNMENT has built a school in Highfield in honour of President Mugabe. Mbizi Secondary School will open doors for its first enrolment in January next year.President Mugabe attended Mbizi Primary School.

The school was constructed with resources from the Government of Zimbabwe under the Public Sector Investment Prog- ramme.

“Today we are all gathered here to launch the school so that come 2017, the school opens its doors in particular to Form One learners, said Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora, in a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Professor Paul Mavhima on Tuesday.

He challenged parents to assist by further developing the school.

“You have observed that the school does not have a perimeter fence as well as other specialist classrooms and it is my hope that those invited here will assist to continue making this an ideal school in their small ways to ensure learners achieve the desired outcomes, said Dr Dokora.

He took the opportunity to update parents on the new curriculum.

“As you may be aware, my ministry in 2017 will roll out the curriculum following a phased approach starting with Form One, Three and Five for all secondary schools.

“For primary schools we will start with ECD A, Grade One, Grade Three and Grade Five.

“Teachers taking these grades and forms have already been trained in syllabus interpretation and are ready,” said Dr Dokora.

The new curriculum was underpinned by the philosophy of Unhu/Ubuntu.

A total of 104 syllabuses were developed in support of the new curriculum. Each school should be able to select from the 104.

Those learning areas that advance the plight of learners at the same time considering their socio-economic status and individual differences, said Dr Dokora.

In an interview later, Prof Mavhima said there was a shortage of 10 000 teachers nationwide.

He said the shortage was more pronounced at ECD level and in science and mathematics subjects.

“We have a shortage of about 10 000 teachers and the main area we need teachers is ECD because we are rolling out ECD A and ECD B.

“We need trained teachers in those areas such as Science, Physics, Maths and Biology. Even though we have this need, we are not saying we have all the resources that are required.

“So as to when we are going to recruit that is a different matter because it will depend on Treasury concurrence,” he said.