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Precious Manomano Herald Reporter

Aussie Books for Zimbabwe, an affiliate of the Australian Embassy, has donated over 2 000 various textbooks to Mutungagore High School in Nyazura as part of efforts to complement Government in ensuring rural schools have access to learning aids.

The development comes after Government recently said there was need to electrify, connect and make use of learning materials such as books to improve the education system of the country.

Handing over the donation to the high school, a representative from Aussie Books for Zimbabwe, who is also a lecturer of Midlands State University Dr Theo Tsokota, said he sourced the donation because he wanted to uplift the standards of education for children in rural areas.

He urged the school officials to work hard and desist children from taking drugs as well as stop child marriages.

Dr Tsokota promised to source more books and ensure that all rural communities had access to learning aids that were crucial in the education sector.

“You should consider your career first, drugs and alcohol cannot take you further, you will not achieve anything,” he said in reference to the school pupils.

“Develop a reading culture in order for you to achieve better results and the pass rate should improve. I am not impressed with the results that are obtained in rural schools, so this is the opportunity to work hard because you now have the resources.

“I am told that child marriages are also on the increase in this area. Do not waste your time focusing on other issues, focus on education and your future will be brighter.”

Aussie Books for Zimbabwe (ABZ) collected new and gently used books, stationery and library furnishings and shipped them to Zimbabwe to set up libraries in rural disadvantaged communities.

This will help improve literacy in disadvantaged communities and empower children with knowledge and the confidence to help shape the world they live in.

The textbooks range from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to Advanced level classes.

Mutungagore head Mr Emmanual Ndyara thanked Dr Tsokota for supporting the school and promised him that the pass rate will improve.

“I want to thank Dr Tsokota for sourcing books from his friends, and this initiative will go a long way in ensuring that quality education is obtained at our school and I am sure our pass rate will improve,” he said.

Schools district inspector for Makoni, Mr Arkim Jiji, welcomed the development, saying it will alleviate the plight of rural schools and help improve the pass rate.

“We are happy to receive this donation,” he said. “l am confident that the school is going to perform better in terms of academic.”

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is working with various ministries to address network and power challenges faced by rural schools which have seen pupils failing to benefit from online learning.

Last year, the closure of schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the challenges faced by rural pupils who have no access to online learning, which is largely to blame for their poor performance in public examinations.