By Dickson Chitake
MARONDERA- St Ludger Secondary School will soon start building an Advance Level classroom block using constituency development funds to meet the rising demand for higher secondary education in the area.
Currently the school only caters for learners up to Ordinary Level. St Ludger Secondary School is one of the biggest learning institutions in rural Marondera, with a wide catchment area for the newly-resettled farmers in the Masomera area which is about 35km from the provincial capital.
It covers 12 villages and is now expected to provide local learners with Lower and Upper Sixth classes.
While the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) will be used to help construct the block, members of the community are expected to play their part by contributing building materials or labour for a speedy construction.
St Ludger Secondary School has an enrolment of 700 students but has not been providing Advanced Level studies.
In 2007, the school was selected as one of the rural schools that should have Advanced Level classes. In 2013, a block which was initially constructed for that purpose was diverted to become a science laboratory and Information Communication Technology (ICT) block.
Marondera East legislator Vimbayi Mutokonyi recently officiated at a ground breaking ceremony of the block. The ceremony also coincided with a farewell party for the school’s former long- serving headmaster who retired in April this year.
Speaking at the event, Mutokonyi said the construction of the classroom block will be a positive move as it dovetails with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s mantra of leaving no place and no one behind when it comes to issue to do with national development and empowerment.
A local businessman, Anyway Chikwenje promised to contribute towards the construction of the classroom block.
He said: “I will definitely lend my hand towards the successful construction of the Advanced Level classroom block at St Ludger Secondary School. As the business community, we shall be donating financially and we will also provide some of the building materials that will be used during construction until the block is completed.
“A total of 17 000 bricks are already in place and a security fence has been already erected. This is a sign of the community’s commitment towards the construction of the classroom block. This sense of unity and pulling in the same direction will surely take us far as a constituency.”
