A Zimbabwean man based in the United States of America has built a private school in his home area in Ward 5 Zimnyathini in Umzingwane District.
Cecil Sibanda said since 2014, he had intended to build a school in his home area to alleviate challenges faced by learners in accessing quality education.
The school is called Mlomotsha School of Excellency. It is sited on a 24-hectare piece of land and so far the school has three blocks, a teachers’ cottage, and an ablution facility.
The school has so far enrolled 40 Form 1 pupils with a staff complement of four teachers.
Speaking during the official opening of the school recently, Sibanda said he was aware of the challenges faced by rural learners as he had experienced them firsthand. He said:
I grew up in this area walking the distance, I know what the children are going through for them to get an education, I know the challenges and the hunger after walking 10km, I understand them better than someone who would have come from another area to construct a school here.
I know all the fruits found in the veld, how we used to kneel down in a river to dig up water and drink, I know how to cross a flooded river because I was born here.
Sibanda said the vision of the school is to provide quality education to those who do not have money without compromising quality.
He added that the school is going to venture into income-generating projects such as a poultry project and he also plans to make the school partly a low-cost boarding and ordinary boarding.
