AS schools opened on Tuesday last week, excitement and anticipation filled the air for students eager to start the new term.
However, for some schools in Chiredzi South Constituency, Masvingo province, the joy of learning remains a distant dream.
Swollen rivers and impassable roads, now reduced to muddy marshes owing to heavy rains, have left teachers stranded, unable to reach their schools.
The affected areas stretch from Chiredzi to Gezani and travellers are forced to cross two main rivers, Runde and Mwenezi, which usually flood with heavy rains.
Teachers and learners in Chambuta, Chilonga and Chibwedziva areas are also affected.
Further down the dusty road, learners in communities such as Boli-Mhlanguleni, Alpha Mphapha, Phahlela, Maliphathi up to Gezani, among others, have not resumed learning as teachers are stuck at Chiredzi growth point, waiting for the river waters to recede.
Even when the floodwaters recede, the roads remain treacherous, with vehicles skidding and struggling to gain traction on the slippery surface.
Buses and other vehicles often get stuck in the mud, forcing passengers to disembark and push or pull the vehicle.
- Teachers cut off as Chiredzi schools are marooned
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In extreme cases, a tractor is summoned to rescue the stranded vehicle, adding hours to an already difficult journey.
Some desperate teachers and learners are taking risks to get to their schools.
On Monday last week, chaos erupted at Chiredzi growth point as teachers and pupils, mainly of Malipathi High School, scrambled to board the only available Chiwara bus.
The bus, which has a capacity of 75 passengers, was then overloaded with over 100 passengers on board, as transporters and passengers overlooked safety concerns.
The journey to school has become an ordeal for teachers and other villagers in the Chiredzi area.
A normally manageable two-hour trip on ordinary roads takes 12 to 24 hours in the Chikombedzi area, testing the patience and determination of even the most hardened travellers.
To worsen the situation, transport operators have taken advantage of the crisis to hike fares.
Commuters have no choice but to pay.
The US$5 fare from Chiredzi to Chikombedzi, for instance, has been tripled to US$15, further exacerbating the hardship faced by the educators and other community members.
The stuck teachers have created a WhatsApp group to receive updates on the state of the roads.
“I have not yet reached my workstation,” a senior teacher who spoke to NewsDay on condition of anonymity said. “There are many of us at the growth point. We constantly check with the operators on whether the road conditions can permit us to travel. We just can’t do anything, even if we want to report for duty.”
A school head who also spoke to NewsDay on condition of anonymity said he had trouble managing the school as only two out of 11 teachers had reported for duty.
“Teachers have not yet shown up,” he said. “They say they are stuck in Chiredzi. It’s understandable because the rivers, even smaller ones, are flooded. Can I force someone to cross a flooded river? Certainly, no!”
The floods that have ravaged the Chiredzi area have not only disrupted the beginning of the school term but have also exposed the deep-rooted challenges faced by learners in this marginalised region.
Even teachers already stationed in the affected areas struggled to arrive on time for a critical district workshop aimed at equipping them with the skills to implement the new curriculum underway at Chiredzi Government High School at Chiredzi growth point.
The workshop, which is important in preparing teachers for the new term and the new curriculum, was delayed as educators battled to navigate the treacherous roads and flooded rivers.
Some had to resort longer routes, via Ngundu using the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway to get to Chiredzi growth point.
Chiredzi district school inspector Takaendesa Hove told NewsDay that the rains had disrupted attendance in some schools in Chiredzi South as schools reopened.
He also said some teachers faced difficulty to arrive at the venue of the new curriculum workshop, but “they eventually joined others.
“Chiredzi is a low-lying area where most rivers which emanate from the Midlands converge. These include Turwi, Runde and Mwenezi.
“Most schools are in between rivers. So we have that problem that since schools reopened, teachers encountered challenges to reach their workstations.
“We did a survey on the day the schools opened and noted that attendance was poor. Those who wanted to attend the new curriculum workshop had to take the longer routes from those low-lying areas to get to Chiredzi growth point. It’s like when one wants to travel to Bulawayo from Harare, they get to Mutare first and then connect to Bulawayo.”
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said the problem of inaccessibility of schools was common in low-lying areas in Zimbabwe and the government must move in to address the crisis.
“But it goes back to the government to say, the areas that need attention are not attended to. The road network is such that service provision by teachers and buses is almost impossible to render.”
While their peers in other parts of the country are already immersed in studies as the new term begins, learners in the Chiredzi area are being denied the opportunity to learn due to circumstances beyond their control.
The floods have not only disrupted their education but have also highlighted the systemic inequalities that perpetuate disadvantages in this region.
The situation is not only a logistical nightmare but also has consequences for the education of learners in the area.
This disadvantage has contributed to perennially low pass rates in the area, perpetuating a cycle of educational inequality.
As the rains continue to fall, the future of the young learners hangs in the balance.
Their dreams of a better tomorrow are threatened by the treacherous terrain and inadequate infrastructure.
