HARARE – Zimbabwe has set an ambitious target to build 120 new schools across the country this year alone.

This was announced in parliament by Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerayi Moyo who said funding has already been secured for the purpose.

Moyo was speaking this past week  while responding to a Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education report presented in Parliament late last year.

The report identified critical gaps in the country’s educational infrastructure.

“Resources permitting, the ministry will prioritise building more schools to address these challenges,” he said.

“I must mention that in the 2025 calendar year, we have secured adequate resources to construct new schools. We are targeting not less than 120 new schools.

“These include 30 schools that we have already received funding from the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion through the National Building Society.

“So, it is a model that has been used by universities like Chinhoyi University where we have received financial support from the National Building Society to construct 30 schools and these schools will be distributed to all the 10 provinces in Zimbabwe.”

The minister said in addition to the 30 schools, a government partner, OPEC Funding for International Development (OFID), has also offered funding towards the building of new schools.

“So, in the first term, we are going to receive US$20 million towards school construction. The partner is going to provide funding for the construction of 50 schools. Of these 50 schools, 40 will be day schools and 10 are going to be boarding schools,” he said.

“So, the government on its own is going to construct not less than 100 schools but we also have our partners, these are individuals, corporates, who are going to provide funding for construction of private schools and colleges so that we expect at least 120 schools to be built in 2025.”

In addition to that, the minister said, the government also wants to build not less than 300 classrooms.

Moyo said the government was targeting areas where students were being forced to travel long distances to access learning facilities.

“In those areas, we are going to build new schools. So, we are going to consult Members of Parliament who are in charge of areas in their constituencies where learners are travelling long distances, we are going to build new schools,” he said.