There is an acute shortage of teachers in satellite schools of Matabeleland South Province.
As a result, some teachers are forced to combine pupils at different grades in one class.
Stella Mazura, a teacher at Jessie Mine Primary School in West Nicholson, is among the teachers who have been forced to combine different grades. She said:
Due to the lack of teachers at the school, I am forced to combine grade threes with two ECD classes and assign them their different tasks for the day, which should not be the case for any institution.
The Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Edgar Moyo, who is also the Matobo North Legislator said that the government is working on strategies to provide teachers to the schools. He said:
As a ministry, we are in the process of coming up with strategies that will see the government providing teachers, even if the students are few. We need that quality interaction between learners and teachers.