By Takunda Mandura
TRT Afrika, Harare
About 18 kilometre southeast of Zimbabwe's capital Harare lies Two Roses Learning Centre, a place of hope for the less privileged children.
The centre in the town of Epsworth is run by Rosemary Kudanga, a 33 year Zimbabwean Early Childhood Development teacher.
Two wooden classrooms in Rosemary's house serve more than 60 children whose ages range from 18 months to 12 years. ''It is a form of homeschooling,'' she says.
Rosemary says she decided to take of the children free of charge due to compassion.
"In my community we have real poverty and some of them are left alone. What made me to start this school is that I feel pity, I just thought I should do something to help these kids so that they can be something or someone in their lives. They did not have any hope ." she tells TRT Afrika.
Left on streets
The school established in 2016, relies on well-wishers who sometimes donate books and other stationeries.
Some of the children were abandoned on the streets in their neighborhoods while others are from families that could not afford to pay for their education.
The teacher says she believes her efforts will give the children hope ''so that they will know that tomorrow is there for them.''
Rosemary dreams of having a bigger school that could carter for both the disadvantaged and the privileged.
Zimbabwe needs at least 2,800 new schools to decongest its learning institutions and absorb out-of-school children, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Torerai Moyo revealed during a 2024 pre-budget seminar.
'I want rich and poor to mingle'
The government had announced plans to construct 3,000 new schools by 2025.
Government's Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) programme provides tuition and examination fees for some of the country's underprivileged students hoping to encourage school enrolment.
But experts say more needs to be done. In May 2022, Zimbabwe National Statistic Agency (Zimstat) said only 26% of parents in Zimbabwe could afford to fund their children’s education.
''My dream is to have a school that caters for both poor, medium or rich kids, so that that they don't feel neglected, so that they feel that they can mix and mingle with the rich,'' Rosemary concludes.
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