Ndangababi and Neshomgwa Basic Schools are located in the remote and under-developed Hwange District of Matabeleland North in Zimbabwe. Built more than 50 years ago the schools have had very little maintenance and have thus fallen into bad state of disrepair. Enrolment at the schools is 1370 and 970 respectively of which 51% are girls. This is rural setting where the income levels are well below the US1.00 per day poverty dutum line. Education therefore offers the only feasible exit out of the poverty cycle with its attendant challenges of child marriage, high prevevalence of STI's, crime and child labour. The district is highly prone to malaria and has a high HIV/Aid prevalence.
The project will seek to repair seven classroom blocks at Ndangababi and 2 at Neshangwa. Teachers' cottages at both schools will be refurbished. In addition toilets will be erected and boreholes will be sunk to improve on clean water supply and sanitation. All school furniture is in dire need of replacement. When the project will be complete, the learning environment will have been enhanced. These improvements will attract qualified teachers who currently constitute abou 30% of the teaching staff. In the process it is expected that the pass rate will improve from the current 28% to 60% over a five year period, peaking at 75% thereafter. Children will then be accepted into better schools where they can further their education.
|