Albertina Nakale KABBE SOUTH – The long-awaited embankment of three flood-prone schools in the Zambezi region is finally taking shape, bringing renewed hope to hundreds of learners and teachers who have repeatedly been forced to relocate during flooding. The project, covering Muzii Combined School, Mpukano Primary School and Nankutwe Combined School in the Kabbe area,... The post Flood-prone Zambezi schools set for major upgrades appeared first on New Era .
Albertina Nakale
KABBE SOUTH – The long-awaited embankment of three flood-prone schools in the Zambezi region is finally taking shape, bringing renewed hope to hundreds of learners and teachers who have repeatedly been forced to relocate during flooding.
The project, covering Muzii Combined School, Mpukano Primary School and Nankutwe Combined School in the Kabbe area, is expected to raise the schools above flood levels and include the construction of new classrooms, hostels, teachers’ houses and other facilities.
Zambezi education director Alex Sikume said the project would ensure that teaching and learning continue even when the region experiences severe flooding.
“These three schools will be raising the platforms so that when the floods are coming, teaching and learning will not be affected. Learners and teachers will remain at schools, and there will be no relocation,” Sikume said in an interview with New Era.
He said the project was particularly important because flooding has previously disrupted education at the affected schools, forcing learners and teachers to move to temporary locations.
Sikume described the project as a major intervention, saying the embankment would be followed by the construction of school hostels, teachers’ houses and additional classrooms on the elevated platforms.
The sites were handed over to the contractor in August, although Sikume acknowledged that the timeframe before the next rainy season was short.
“We just handed over the sites. But looking at the timeframe from now until when the rainy season or the flood sets in, it’s a very short period of time,” he said.
He nevertheless expressed confidence in the contractor’s capacity to deliver the project.
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For communities that have lived with the effects of annual flooding for years, the project represents more than just new school infrastructure.
Nankutwe Combined School board chairperson Marias Shamwazi said residents were excited that a project which had been promised for many years was finally being implemented.
He said the handover of the Nankutwe site on 18 August marked an important step towards ending the disruption caused by floods.
“Our community was very happy because their children, their learners, were totally stranded. They were walking long distances and staying very far with parents,” Shamwazi said.
He said the project would provide new classrooms, a dining hall, hostels and teachers’ houses, while the existing school would remain intact.
Shamwazi said teachers had also endured difficult living conditions during previous relocations, while learners were sometimes forced to learn in tents when floodwaters surrounded the school.
“The water was totally disturbing. When water was busy rising, learners did not have classrooms. They were living in tents. There were no better buildings,” he said.
He believes the improved infrastructure will reduce absenteeism and create a better learning environment for both learners and teachers.
Local employment
Shamwazi also welcomed the prospect of employment opportunities for residents during construction, saying local people were expected to be engaged as general workers.
He said the project could also stimulate broader development in the area by attracting businesses and improving access to services.
“Most of our unemployed people, they will maybe get employed by this company,” he said, adding that skilled workers would be brought in from elsewhere where necessary.
Meanwhile, a resident of Ikaba, Hebert Njenjema, also welcomed the project, saying the community was looking forward to its completion.
Njenjema said the plans went beyond simply raising the school grounds, with new schools, hostels and teachers’ quarters forming part of the development.
“At Muzii, they said they will take three years; everything is covered. And at Mpukano, they said two years; everything is covered. So they have to build a new school, the hostels, teachers’ quarters, and even the hostels for learners. That is a great job if it can be done,” he said.
The three schools have been among the educational institutions hardest hit by flooding in the region.
About 528 learners from Muzii Combined School, Mpukano Primary School and Nankutwe Combined School were directly affected and subsequently relocated because of severe flooding this year.
The post Flood-prone Zambezi schools set for major upgrades appeared first on New Era.
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