A gold mining company operating in Shamva has transformed access to education for hundreds of children after investing in the construction and expansion of Zvitokwe Primary School in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative that community leaders say has significantly improved teaching and learning.
Canterbury Mining, whose investors are from the Netherlands has financed the development of modern classroom blocks and teachers’ accommodation at the school, which now enrolls 455 pupils and has the capacity to accommodate more than 800 learners.
The project forms part of the company’s wider commitment to supporting communities surrounding its mining operations with plans also underway to build a secondary school and a clinic.
Speaking during a visit to the school, Canterbury Mining secretary Samuel Tinashe Rusike said the investment was inspired by the government’s call for foreign investment under the “Zimbabwe is Open for Business” mantra.
“The President is a man who inspires confident and is a winning man and our investors felt that they wanted to join a winning team by heeding his call to the effect that Zimbabwe is open for business. Our investors who are from Netherlands embraced this call.
“Because he is a winning team, we also wanted to do Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that is tangible. We did not want to let the President down for giving us the opportunity to invest and we wanted to do something that the community embraces and be part of the winning team,” said Rusike.
He said the company viewed investment in education as a lasting contribution to the local community.
“We took it upon ourselves to be ambassadors to support the Shamva community by building a modern school. We are not stopping in terms of developing this school when the school was officially opened, we had five blocks and we have increased them to seven. We have also built staff accommodation.” he said
School head David Mapako said the development had transformed learning conditions, replacing inadequate facilities that had previously forced several teachers to share classrooms.
“Our situation was dire, we only had three houses that accommodated seven teachers. We had only one class that was utilised by four teachers. The school’s infrastructure was not conducive. Through our Member of Parliament, Mr Mapiki we managed to see development.
“We have 16 teachers and everyone has their own classes thanks to Canterbury for the generosity and all classes are fully furnished with chairs and desks. The school has everything that classifies it as a state-of-the-art facility. We are proud of these developments because there has been a great improvement in teaching and learning,” said Mapako.
Shamva South Member of Parliament Joseph Mapiki said the school was among 14 new learning institutions established in the area to improve access to education in growing communities.
“This was a bushy area and with the help of the community, Canterbury Mining Company came in and we managed to construct the school which is one of the fourteen new schools in that area. For us we are saying if you want to invest in our area what do you offer to our community? Canterbury did not give us a challenge as they told us from the onset that they want to build a school and a clinic. I am calling upon other communities to ask those who want to invest to first enquire what the community will benefit,” said Mapiki.
The school’s expansion has increased classroom capacity, improved teacher accommodation and provided fully furnished learning spaces, developments that education officials and community leaders say are contributing to better educational outcomes.
Plans to establish a secondary school and a health clinic are expected to further expand access to essential public services in the area, as Canterbury Mining continues its community investment programme alongside its mining operations.
