Residents of Gulathi village in Matobo District in Matabeleland South have called on the government to review policies affecting rural communities, saying shortages of teachers, poor road networks, limited internet access and inadequate livestock facilities continue to hinder development.
The residents said learners in rural schools were particularly disadvantaged because schools often had too few teachers to provide academic lessons while also supporting sporting, arts and other extracurricular activities.
Speaking to CITE, Gulathi Community Development Trust chairperson Rafaelo Ndlovu, said the government should allow rural schools to work with community members and volunteers to provide support in areas such as sport, particularly where schools are short-staffed.
He said rural schools were expected to compete with better-resourced schools despite facing shortages of teachers and other resources.
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“We feel the government and the Ministry should try to change some of the regulations that apply in rural areas because you will find that schools are short-staffed, yet children are expected to participate in arts, sports and other activities using the same teachers. In that situation, we are expecting these students to compete with students from schools that have more resources, and it becomes a major challenge,” Ndlovu said.
He noted schools should be allowed to engage community members with skills in sport and other activities, while volunteers willing to assist schools could also be trained.
“The government and the Ministry should at least give schools permission to get help from the community by allowing them to bring in people who can assist with sports and other activities. The Ministry could also consider training volunteers in the community who are willing to work with children and help schools. This is something that needs to be revised because rural schools cannot continue carrying all these responsibilities with limited staff,” Ndlovu said.
Ndlovu also raised concerns over livestock dipping facilities in the area, saying some farmers were unable to access the deep tank because of the long distances they had to travel.
He said the situation had resulted in some farmers going for years without dipping their cattle, increasing the risk of livestock diseases.
“Dipping cattle is a very common challenge because not everyone is able to go to the deep tank. We cannot travel 15 kilometres just to access a deep tank, and we only have one deep tank which is very far. Because of that distance, some people have gone for years without dipping their cattle,” said the chairperson.
Ndlovu said the shortage of agricultural inputs was compounded by poor road infrastructure, which made it difficult for farmers to access the resources they needed.
He added drought also continued to threaten livestock production, with farmers losing animals during prolonged dry periods because of limited grazing land.
“Drought is also a major challenge for livestock. We normally lose almost 10 percent of our livestock during an ordinary drought because we do not have enough grazing land here. Our grasses are not suitable for grazing, but because keeping cattle is part of our culture, people continue to keep them as a form of security for when they need them,” Ndlovu said.
Although livestock ownership remains important to the community, Ndlovu said farmers had yet to fully embrace cattle production as a sustainable business.
“The major challenge is the knowledge aspect. We are not yet at the point where we have fully embraced the idea of turning that system into a business. People keep cattle because of culture and for security, but we need to start looking at livestock production from a business perspective if we are going to make it sustainable,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Matobo resident Nokulunga Moyo said poor network connectivity was also affecting learners, particularly as internet access had become increasingly important for research and learning.
Moyo said the lack of reliable internet access was leaving rural learners at a disadvantage compared with pupils in areas with better connectivity.
“In terms of research that students do in schools, education that is being taught to children has become very difficult to teach because of the network challenges. Children fail to access the internet, yet the internet has become a common and important tool for research and learning. As a result, children in this area struggle to access educational materials and information that other students can easily get online,” Moyo said.
She said long distances between homes and schools were another burden for learners, who often had to walk several kilometres to and from school before returning home to perform household chores.
“The long distances are another major challenge. We can say we are fine, but we are really not fine. Imagine walking eight kilometres to school and then coming back home, only to be expected to study afterwards. It is actually very difficult and, in some cases, almost impossible,” Moyo said.
The villager said learners often arrived home exhausted but were still expected to fetch firewood and water and perform other household duties, leaving them with little time and energy to study.
“When they come back home, they still have to fetch firewood, fetch water and do other household chores. All these challenges make it difficult for children to access anything easily. They have to struggle for almost everything, and that affects their ability to study and perform well at school,” Moyo said.
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