Catholic priest Father Tim Peacock was so touched by the plight of children at several schools in rural Hwange where pupils slept in classrooms because of the long distances they would have to walk from their homes to the school she had to do something.
To help the situation, Peacock sought the assistance of World Vision to construct a hostel for girls at Nechishala Secondary School to protect them from sexual abuse and to make their life easier.
The hostel is now complete and has become sanctuary to the girls, who had been sleeping in open classrooms, braving many risks just to get an education. Nechishala Secondary School has an enrolment of over 100 girls doing Form 1 to 4.
“We were being forced to stay at bush boarding (houses) and open classrooms because we couldn’t continue walking the long distances to school.
“Life was very difficult for us. Our classrooms were our bedrooms,” said a relieved Mercy Ndlovu, who is one of the beneficiaries of the new boarding facility.
“Before the construction of these hostels, we used to bring our own food from home and we cooked on open fires around the school,” she added.
Her mother Sincengani Ndlovu said she was happy that her daughter could now focus on her studies at a safe place.
“The school that Mercy goes to is far away and walking there every day exposed her to dangers of sexual abuse,” she said.
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“We thank World Vision for constructing a boarding house for our daughters. They are now very safe as there is also a matron to look after them,” said the mother.
The boarding facility boasts of piped water and solar lights, courtesy of World Vision. Peacock has facilitated a similar boarding facility at Nechishala Secondary School, which is located 17 kilometres from Hwange town.
“Girls and boys, who needed accommodation, were sleeping in classrooms,” Peacock said.
“Surely this is not healthy and it leaves the girl child vulnerable.”
His intervention, however, is a drop in the ocean as hundreds of children in Matabeleland North where Hwange is located are still forced to walk more than 20 kilometres a day to attend school.
Matabeleland North has a few boarding schools and the rest are poorly resourced day schools. The province has a staggering 223 satellite schools, which are characterised by poor infrastructure.
In some of the province’s remote districts such as Binga, children walk distances of as much as 20 km to and from school. As a result of exhaustion, the children’s education suffers and the dropout rates are very high.
Girls are the most vulnerable as they are prone to rape and forced sexual relationships with older men, which exposes them to HIV infections and increased teenage pregnancies.
Effie Ncube, a Bulawayo-based social commentator, said the shortage of schools in Matabeleland was tragic, especially 44 years after the country’s independence.
“The distance between schools in some parts of the country, especially Matabeleland, is tragic, bordering on criminal dereliction of constitutional duty for a country that has been independent for 44 years,” Ncube said.
“Learners wake up at 3am and depart to school at 4am and return back home at 8pm from Monday to Friday.
“In the process girls get exposed to sexual violence and other hazards. Indeed many have been raped and fallen pregnant and lost out on education.
“These punishing distances have also led to a high rate of school dropouts and low rate of education completion.
“This denies young people a great equaliser in life. Without education, few stand a chance in life.”
Ncube said parents resorted to sending their children to the so-called bush boarding facilities out of desperation.
“No child should ever go through what rural learners are going through,” he said.
“It goes to the core of the right to education and fair opportunity to make it in life.
“To make matters worse, many of these schools are very expensive for poor households and lack teachers and basic teaching and learning aides.
“They are just shells that are schools in name only. It’s a situation that requires speedy remedy.”
National University of Science and Technology journalism lecturer Methuseli Moyo said infrastructure development was lagging behind in Matabeleland North and this denied children many opportunities.
“It is regrettable we still have that state of affairs, 44 years after independence,” Moyo said.
“Matabeleland North is way behind in terms of infrastructure development, including schools.
“Children leave home at 4 am to be at school by 07:30 am, leave school at 4 pm and get home at 7 pm.
“That makes education a burden. No effective education can take place under those conditions.”
Taungana Ndoro, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education spokesperson, said the government was addressing the issue of “bush boarding schools, especially in Matabeleland North.”
“According to the latest data from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, there are still some bush boarding arrangements existing in Matabeleland North Province, but which have significantly reduced from previous numbers identified in the region,” Ndoro said.
“The government’s position is clear - we encourage sustainable boarding facilities that do not expose children, particularly girls, to serious risks such as sexual abuse, exploitation, and other hazards.”
He said the government was working with other partners to eradicate informal boarding facilities.
“The government is doing all it can to entrench cultural practices of hunhu/ubuntu while it is seeking adequate funding and resources to provide alternative, safe and sustainable boarding facilities after identifying and monitoring all informal boarding arrangements,” Ndoro said.
“This support has come in the form of funding, technical expertise, and the provision of alternative boarding facilities in some instances.”
Primary and Secondary Education minister Torerai Moyo last year said Zimbabwe had a backlog of 2 800 schools, but the government’s budget allocations towards the sector remain very low.
The government allocated only 17.7% of its budget in 2024 to the education sector, which was way below the 20% committed under the Dakar Declaration of 2000.
Zimbabwe’s education system, once the envy of many in Africa, has suffered severe brain drain, underfunding and skewed government policies over the last few years.
*This story was produced with support from the WAN-IFRA Women in News Social Impact Reporting initiative
