Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) has partnered the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to launch a comprehensive school safety model meant to provide safety to learners and workers.
Speaking during the launch of the comprehensive school safety model, Tumisang Tabela, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education who was represented by an official from her office appreciated Red Cross for ensuring safe learning environments.
“Under phase two, the project added five new schools. The new schools only implemented the software aspects with exchange visits conducted with the phase one targeted schools for learning,” said Tabela.
She further highlighted that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Red Cross managed to rehabilitate 28 boreholes in Matabeleland South, provided washing stations, and detergents as well as tapped buckets for classrooms.
“The Comprehensive School safety project implemented by the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society had a two-pronged approach that is the hardware and software interventions. In the first phase of the project, the project targeted the first 10 schools and retrofitted classroom blocks according to the current building codes that ensure a safe and healthy learning environment.
“The retrofitted classroom blocks have new big windows to ensure adequate light and circulation of air, two metal doors opening outside to ensure easy exit in times of disasters, access ramps were also inserted in all classrooms making the learning environment inclusive and the classrooms were roofed using IBR roof sheets which are better resilient to the common prevailing hazards in the area such as hailstorms and strong winds. The project also built the girl and disabled child-friendly toilets in all the phase one targeted schools,” she added.
ZRCS Secretary-General, Elias Hwenga said Matebeleland South and Mangwe to be specific were chosen to be the pilot because of the nature of the environment.
“The intervention was informed by the prevailing vulnerability status of the Schools in Mangwe District to the various hazards that had affected mostly the infrastructure of most schools over the past years.
“These hazards are common in most districts in Zimbabwe, however as ZRCS, we target the most vulnerable districts following a closer assessment of the data which ranked the district highly vulnerable as compared to other districts,” Hwenga said.
The model, implemented by the ZRCS in Matebeleland South since 2019, targeted 10 schools during the pilot phase and later added five new schools under phase 2.
The model is made up of four pillars which are contribution to safer school facilities, education in Schools and home communities, risk reduction and resilience education and safer communities and journeys to school.
