By Prisca Manyiwa-Masuku | Masvingo Mirror |
KWEKWE – Amaveni High School in Kwekwe has purchased a second school bus for US$195 000 and plans are to use the bus commercially to reduce the amount of school fees paid by guardians.
School head Wellington Mapingire said they are now working on securing a road permit and choosing a route for the bus.
Mapingire added that the school has already lowered fees after using its first school bus commercially. He said part of the proceeds were channeled towards purchasing the second bus.
Amaveni has the lowest fees for any school in the country with A Level pupils paying US$80 and O Level pupils paying US$60.
The new bus was commissioned on Wednesday by Midlands Minister of State Owen Ncube at the school.
Ncube also commissioned a borehole (US$1 100), a smart classroom block equipped with Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment (US$15000) and a Toyota Hilux double cab GD6 vehicle (US$63000) at the school.
“We want to venture into the transport industry with our new bus to raise revenue so that by 2030 our fees will be reduced.
“We managed to maintain our school fees by subsiding the amount through money raised commercially by our old bus over the past two years. We channeled some of the proceeds towards the purchase of the new bus.
“Our smart classroom block is well equipped and it will assist our learners in research and make learning easier.
“The borehole will assist us in our projects because so far we have managed to raise funds through growing maize and poultry, the community also benefits by fetching water for free whenever they do not have a water supply,” said Mapingire.
He added that the bus was bought through funds raised from the first bus, a bank loan and donations.
“Our first bus has made a tremendous contribution and we also got a US$20 000 donation from the Minister of State and a bank loan that we will pay off,” added Mapingire.
School Development Committee (SDC) Chairperson, Marshal Makorovodo said their vision is to assist the Amaveni community by reducing the burden of paying fees.
“Amaveni is a poor community made up of mostly the elderly who are taking care of orphans. It is our hope that through this bus and other projects we will be able to reach zero fees payment at our school.
“Currently our A Level fees is US$80 and US$60 for our O Levels,” said Makorovodo.
Sounds like good plan but I can smell a crazy corrupt plan. First thing first, that price is another sign of corruption.
It's rare leadership, with empathy and care
Schools in Zim are obsessed with purchasing luxury buses and I don't know how this benefits the children.
I believe if that bus was indeed bought for $195k, a better business venture would have been achieved with such a sum.. But, well done for the purchase!
This is a slippery slope.
People contributed higher fees to include the cost of the bus.
And now there is a murky project to use the bus for profit.
The auditor general/Ministry of education/ Zimra should be roped in to scrutinise such deals.
Mu Zimbabwe munobiwa mari akomana 😂😂
That's very outrageous. First that price is false and then some people want to make money out of this because there can be no audit for this business. If they could hire it out to other schools or churches when they go for crusades I wouldn't disagree not daily richirohwa nemahwindi coming back telling you tarohwa nepolice hazvibude.
Whoever came up with that idea must be arrested or there must be a law to prohibit such ventures for schools.
This stings why buy the bus if you don't need it. This is an education institution not transport company
Mispaced priorities the school saw it fit to purchase a second bus I hope students have adequate text books. This money could have been used for initiatives that benefit students and improve pass rate ie installing a solar system as back up when there is no electricity.
Those Asiastar buses cost from around 83k to 120k so where did they buy this for almost double the price?? Thr shld be an audit, serious one otherws pakarohwa bag.
Good job head don't forget to put it in your name then resign the job and focus on your business
The real question is, where does the school get such a lot of money
They overprice school fees for business and not as a way to accommodate learners, especially those from poor families. And now they're talking about making school fees " affordable"
Everyone involved in that procurement process must be locked up, inflated price.
So the schools if allowed to do business like this we end up buses pile up in road , especially boarding schools will buy buses
What ministry of education is saying on these projects
Even schools will own trucks magonyeti very soon
I only know tuckshops to feed the kids if they afford but buses another level
With no roads in our country this bus won't last
It once happened at our former school"Mhangura High School". Those heads are not make sure
They will bleed public transport has very small margins infact the world over it is subsidised
Sounds like a good idea if the fees really go down with good management. All the best.
Is this part of the new curriculum or maybe ndiyo heritage based curriculum yacho yekuti schools are now diverting from their core business
The idea is good before thinking of paying school fees you have to reimburse the funds utilized to purchase the bus.Its long road to travel.The bus should be bought around $30-40k for such a project
These heads set up their own SDCs who are perpetuated in those posts and they do whatever benefits them…buy the time people will be complaining some will be rich and the school poorer…
195 thousands bugs the school head and the whole SDC needs to be investigated.
This is insane converting a school to a public transport operator, daylight thievery
Pakaiswa Zino hombe chairo..a brand new bus better the one above rinosvika in Zimbabwe from China ne less than $195k,the problem about us Zimbabweans we complain on social media and do nothing on the ground,panofanira kuitwa ma investigations apa ,this is daylight robbery
The purchase price of the bus is outrageous. Secondly the bus must used for school errands only. Once it's used for commercial purposes, it will deteriorate and become a hazard to use.