By A Correspondent – The Masvingo Women’s Rights Advocacy Group (MWRAG), in partnership with Rural Empowerment and Development (READ), has raised serious concerns over the sanitation and infrastructure crisis at Chikwanda Primary School in Masvingo District, where learning conditions expose children, particularly girls, to daily health risks, indignity, and exclusion.

Chikwanda Primary School, a government-run rural institution, serves 136 pupils with only one squat-hole toilet shared by four teachers. When the facility becomes overwhelmed or unusable, pupils are forced to use nearby bushes, increasing their exposure to infections and stripping them of basic dignity.

The situation is further worsened by reports that workers from a nearby brick moulding site also use the same facility, resulting in severe overcrowding and leaving young learners, especially those in ECD and lower grades, without adequate privacy or protection.

MWRAG notes that poor sanitation has a disproportionate and long-lasting impact on girls. Schools without adequate toilets, clean water, and handwashing facilities quickly become unsafe spaces once girls reach puberty.

Fear of menstrual leaks, odour, teasing, or being seen using unsafe toilets forces many girls to miss lessons, disengage from school, or drop out altogether. Inadequate sanitation also heightens the risk of hygiene‑related illnesses among children, undermining attendance, concentration, and learning outcomes, while increasing care responsibilities for mothers and caregivers.

Challenges at Chikwanda extend beyond sanitation to the condition of classrooms themselves. Some lessons are conducted in makeshift structures converted from an old homestead, marked by cracked walls, collapsing roofs, uneven floors, and missing windowpanes. Parents report that children are often sent home when it rains because classrooms are no longer safe. With only three teachers handling nine classes from ECD B to Grade 7, pupils are taught in combined classes that fail to meet age‑specific learning needs, deepening disadvantage in an already marginalised rural setting.

READ observes that these conditions reflect a wider pattern of inequality. While urban and peri‑urban schools commonly have functional sanitation, safe infrastructure, and reliable water supplies, rural schools like Chikwanda continue to rely on improvised solutions and unmet commitments. This gap reinforces a two‑tier education system that systematically leaves rural children behind.

Access to safe and adequate sanitation is both a feminist and child‑rights issue, as it directly determines who can learn safely, confidently, and equally. The conditions at Chikwanda Primary School violate children’s constitutional rights to basic education, health, and safe, clean, and dignified environments as provided for under Sections 75, 76, and 81 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe. These rights apply equally to all learners, regardless of whether they are in rural, urban, or peri‑urban schools.
MWRAG and READ therefore call for an urgent and coordinated response from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, local authorities, and other duty‑bearers to prioritise adequate sanitation, reliable water access, and safe learning infrastructure at Chikwanda Primary School and other affected rural schools.

The School Development Committee is urged to place sanitation and infrastructure at the centre of planning and engagement with authorities, while community members are encouraged to actively participate in school and community development meetings and demand accountability. No child should be forced to compromise their health, dignity, or education because of where they are schooled; ensuring adequate sanitation in all learning institutions is a constitutional obligation and a foundation for equal, quality education for every child.