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Margaret Matibiri Herald Correspondent
Marondera District needs 36 primary and secondary schools to cater for all pupils, it has been revealed. This was said by Marondera Central legislator Mr Lawrence Katsiru while addressing parents and pupils at a prize-giving ceremony at Roshval Primary School recently. Cde Katsiru said the existing schools were overcrowded and the teacher-pupil ratio was not conducive for quality education.

“There is a shortage of 25 primary schools as there are only eight available,” he said. “There are also only six secondary schools with 60 pupils in each class and there is need for 11 more.

“These figures show that there is a high demand for schools in our area and as a result it is expensive for the citizens to access them and also pupils have to travel for long distances to reach them.”

Cde Katsiru pledged his support to assist individuals who wanted to build more schools in the area by facilitating the unveiling of land by the municipality.

“We are encouraging all those individuals who want to build their private schools to come forward and I will personally assist by going to the municipality and ensure that land is unveiled for this noble cause,” he said.

Cde Katsiru said as a result of the large numbers of pupils attending the few schools available, schools had resorted to hot sitting, which is not conducive for adequate learning.

“Our schools have resorted to hot sitting to ensure that they accommodate all the pupils and this is not the right learning environment as temperatures will be high in the afternoon, reducing levels of concentration,” he said.

Cde Katsiru revealed that there were 55 unregistered Early Childhood Development (ECD) schools in Marondera.

“Currently, there are 55 unregistered ECD’s and the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will be moving in to close them as they are not recognised by the ministry they are serving,” he said.

“However, I am of the strong opinion that the ministry should first build schools to replace the unregistered ones before they can close them so that parents are not stranded.”

Cde Katsiru thanked Mrs Precious Muzambi-Lala, owner of Roshval Primary School, for meeting the needs of her community by building a private school. He pledged 5 000 bricks to build another classroom block at the school and will drill a borehole.