George Silundika School cries for help
IS this a school or just abandoned buildings?
This is a question most people probably ask themselves when visiting George Silundika Primary School in Nyamandlovu, Umguza District in Matabeleland North.
Even after many appeals, the school, whose status is a far cry from the person it was named after has remained the same, if not worse. George Silundika, a nationalist who played an important role in the fight against the Ian Smith regime became a Cabinet Minister after the attainment of Independence in 1980, but died in 1981 and was declared a National Hero. He was a towering figure in the country’s liberation struggle.
However, the school named after him has five dilapidated buildings used as classrooms to cater for pupils from ECD to Grade Seven. The situation at this primary school is different from the one obtaining at the nearby secondary school, which was also after George Silundika. The secondary school has nice boarding facilities and draws children mainly from Bulawayo and its surroundings.
The buildings at the primary school, showing signs of structural defects, are now posing a danger to the lives of the pupils who have no alternative for better education and learning facilities considering the weather conditions.
The school authorities have been appealing to the Government as well as well-wishers for the development of the school but nothing has been done.
One thing which is for sure to attract the eyes of any visitor to the school are the cracking walls, hanging roofings and even holes inside the so-called classrooms.
The holes and gaps almost resemble potholes that litter open roads.
And this is the infrastructure the pupils have to use as they try to acquire the knowledge to become better people tomorrow.
Recently the school held its prize giving ceremony and had to move to George Silundika High School hall for the event as its own structures could not accommodate visitors.
“We are having our prize giving day at the high school hall because we don’t have enough buildings to host our events there,” said a teacher at the school.
Sunday News managed to talk to some of the parents whose children attend the school. They are not amused.
“The school should be a place where our children must be safe but every day you always think whether they are safe or not. The rainy season has started and we are worried, very worried because if this place experiences a storm then that will be the end of these buildings as you can see,” said a parent who did not want to be named.
The School Development Committee (SDC) chairperson at George Silundika Primary, Retired Colonel Albert Ncube conceded that the institution was now a danger to the pupils and teachers.
“As the school, parents and Government we have an obligation to ensure the safety of our pupils but at the moment their lives are far from being safe. At any moment the building that they use as the office is also a classroom and it can fall at any time,” said Rtd Col Ncube.
He said the ideal situation will be to close the school although there are no immediate plans on what will happen to the pupils.
Rtd Col Ncube said: “We have considered closing the school and moving our pupils to neighbouring schools but in this case the only nearby school is Nyamandlovu Primary which is 10 kilometres away.”
The councillor for the area who also is called Albert Ncube appealed to the Government, companies and individuals to help the school.
“I cannot talk about classrooms because at this moment there are no classrooms but we have houses that we use as classrooms. The secondary school has allowed us to use two of their blocks but we don’t know when they will change their minds,” said Clr Ncube.
Matabeleland North deputy provincial education director Mrs Beatrice Manjere said they were aware of the situation at George Silundika Primary School and they were in the process of addressing some of the challenges.
In its diagnoses of the problem in the world, decoloniality has excavated through the social sciences and observed that a Colonial Power Matrix exists that keeps coloniality intact even
“The school was issued a piece of land to the east of where it is situated. That is the place where they can build their classrooms but unfortunately at the moment there are no funds to build but plans are underway to construct the school,” said Mrs Manjere.
Cde Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu, a colleague of Cde Silundika during the armed struggle said he was not aware that the school was facing such a huge problem.
He, however, said considering the person it was named after that shouldn’t be much of problem adding that the school’s SDC might not have done enough to market the school’s predicament to the relevant stakeholders.
“I am not aware that there is such a problem, I wonder if the community has done much to look for funds. There are so many people who would be willing to help them considering the role that Cde George Silundika played during the liberation struggle. I tell you there are a lot of diplomatic missions who will be ready to assist at the mere mention of Cde George Silundika,” said Cde Ndlovu.
Cde Ndlovu said: “I am just from Algeria and I was with people who worked closely with Cde George Silundika in the execution of the liberation struggle, if I was aware I would have
Cetshwayo Zindabazezwe Mabhena writes from South Africa: decoloniality2016@ gmail.com. asked them to intervene.”
He added that he was more than willing to assist the SDC approach some of the diplomatic missions in Harare towards the cause of the school.
George Silundika Primary School has an enrolment of 170 pupils, from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to Grade Seven, all of whom have to make do with an old, decrepit three-roomed structure, a door-less two roomed makeshift classroom block and a thatched pole and mud hut.
The old building was constructed by students as part of their building lessons, soon after Independence under the Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (Zimfep) programme, which, among other things, aimed to accord liberation war fighters the chance to continue with their education which was interrupted by their participation in the war.
No other structure, save from the pole and mud hut, was ever built at the school and authorities had to convert an old disused shed belonging to George Silundika High School, into a classroom to cater for the school’s swelling enrolment. ZIMBABWE is hosting the biggest continental inter-collegiate debate competition at Midlands State University in Gweru. Prior to this, Lupane State University convened the participants at a preparatory session in Bulawayo for two days, where continental issues were openly discussed.
I enjoyed listening to people from different countries with their immaculate worldviews. Apart from foreign accents which were very fascinating to a language expert like me, I discovered that we have homogenous collage of shared experiences, prospects and challenges. Beyond distinct cultural and national geography confined backgrounds, our continental political culture reflects more of an ancestral political bind (Magubane 1987). We surely cannot run away from the fact that Africa’s problems are Zimbabwe’s burden, as a nation, we have a lead role in the African act. Our scenic political events are nothing new in the face of this land, we just need to stop shifting the blame to ourselves and look deeper. Are we really the cause of our plights? How about we go deep into this introspection of the condition of the “being” our nation?
After listening to the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency, President Mugabe on Tuesday, I was reminded that we are bigger than our problems; all we lack is identifying the cause and curtailing its longevity. We are systematic failures in identifying our real problems. I was reminded that we are our own enemies; we continuously blame ourselves and expect miracles to happen to our lives. Let us stop dreaming, Zimbabwe’s problems, Africa’s problems will not be solved when we become our own enemies. I decided to pen a series of where our problem lies: locating Zimbabwe in the scope of African quagmires-what is the real problem. Therefore, seen from the perspective of political instability and as a “drifting continent”, many questions come up, which demand more than just simple answers, or repeated mythical notions about Africa’s problems, as purely inherent in the African way of doing things.
That there are problems in Africa for several decades even after many countries in the continent went through transitions from colonialism to independence, is not a deniable fact. However, the African situation is not as bleak as portrayed in the media or by pessimistic Africanists. In terms of political instability in Africa, it is also undeniable that the continent has experienced some difficult moments during the last 50 years or so. But what is still unexplained in the many analyses that have been looking at events in Africa is the fact that in almost all the cases of political instability in Africa, it is evident that the major problem is continuous external interference. To date, almost every country in Africa is still haunted by historical injustices and neo colonial oppressive structures that were bequeathed to the post colonial leadership. President Mugabe has always spoken against such African “sissy” leaders who are scared to stand against their former and continuous oppressors. This is an aspect which informs the weak institutions of the state, flawed legislative systems and constant struggles for political power to the detriment of the well being of many nations, which could have moved on a path of development as part of modern societies.
While the international community, whose geo-security and resource interests seem to benefit from the status quo in Africa, has not been prothe establishment of functioning systems in Africa, instead, their involvement, continue to undermine Africa’s stability through the militarisation of conflicts for accumulative purposes. Political instability in Zimbabwe as much as in Africa may owe much of its cause to internal factors. However, the interpenetration of internal and external factors especially geo-political and economic interests of the international community constantly play a significant role in undermining the very processes and institutions that are expected to nurture democracy and to instil a sense of stability for societal development in Africa. In combination to such factors as unequal development, poverty, disease, violence and the manipulative tendencies of the anti-establishment local elite, political and economic stability in Africa is constantly under threat. This threat is, however, not emanating from within the continent but from external interests whose thirst for African resources, continue to shape the dynamics in areas related to governance.
Resources in Africa if well managed are capable of providing for its entire population; hence the potentials for a more stable environment, however, also problematic in the African context are the existing institutions of the state and how they function. Despite the existence of institutional frameworks that are supposed to guide processes and delivery on essential services, the continued weakening of these institutions, through political mechanisation and predatory nature of African elites, working in cohorts with external interests also contributes further to the undermining of stability in Africa. This argument is reflective of the state of opposition in Zimbabwe that has been a resident of Chatham House, an ambassador of pseudo promises to imperialists should they assume power. The most proud thing a Zimbabwean has at the moment is a ideological stubborn President, one who refuses to serve interests of our oppressor. Unlike other countries, Zimbabwe is not affected