WITH so much joy and celebrations, students at Tashinga Primary School in Macheke could not stop beaming from ear to ear as they saw Delta’s philanthropic hand help them shape their future.
Vimbai Marufu
Days of enduring lessons in the old weather-beaten barns that served as classrooms, which got dusty in hot-dry conditions and muddy during the rainy season and posed a threat to their lives as they were collapsing and had huge cracks, are a thing of the past .
The school sprang up in the wake of the government’s resettlement programme. However, it lacked proper facilities and education standards were far from ideal.
A visit to the old site for the first time one would notice the need for better facilities and more learning materials.
Delta Corporation came to their rescue and created a better learning environment for the students by building a new classroom block that is going to map a new path for their future.
Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the classroom block on Thursday Delta chairman Canaan Dube said the company took pride in making a difference in communities and is a measure of enhancing the capacity of underprivileged schools.
“This project allows us to empower the less privileged and may this mark the beginning of a new era in education for this community, may it inspire more initiatives to come.
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“These children are our future and investing in their education is investing the future,” Dube said.
He also commended the tremendous work that was shown by the community members who also played a pivotal role in building the block and also started constructing another one.
Tashinga Primary School was established in 2004 and came to the rescue of many children who were walking a distance of more than 10km to the nearest school. It has 614 students, but has been facing a myriad of challenges from its inception.
In partnership with the Ministry of Education, in March this year Delta injected $26 000 towards building materials and new furniture for the new block.
Delta’s partnership is not only confined to building projects, it also has a Bursary Scheme Programme which aims at providing better opportunities to pupils in rural areas who perform exceptionally well at ordinary level and wish to advance their education.
Tashinga Primary School now has a new classroom block that is adequately furnished and sanitary facilities which include a borehole and toilets.
Ephania Dolson, a Grade 5 pupil at the school, said she was happy they no longer hold lessons beneath makeshift structures and the new development at the school has motivated her to aim higher “We did not have proper desks or benches hence it was difficult to concentrate in class and when it rains we get wet, but the new proper classroom motivates us to work harder than before”, she said.
The headmistress of the school Agnes Mwapeya expressed her gratitude for the good deed that was shown to her community and brought an uplifting spirit and pride for community members.
She added that many teachers would not stay for long at the school because of its previous state and during the rainy season lessons would stop as early as 11 as all the pupils would be crammed up in one classroom which did not leak hence the new block brought better long-term educational facilities for the pupils.
The Provincial Educational Director for Mashonaland East Province, Sylvester Matshaka, who was also present at the official opening ceremony, was saddened by the conditions under which the students were taught, but commended the dedication shown by the headmistress whom he said was conscious to the fact that a chance of a better future is possible with education.
