Rutendo Chirume

Lack of adequate water threatens to reverse Sikato Primary’s one-year-old fish project which is part of the school’s new heritage-based curriculum projects.

The school has two 14x7m fish ponds, each with 100 fish, and it also runs a poultry project with 200 chickens (some of them free range), and a gardening project with a variety of vegetables.

The fish are sold for US$3 each, and broiler chickens for US$6 each, but there is high death rate among the chicken due to the sweltering temperatures.

The solar-powered borehole, which the school shares with the community, struggles to sustain those projects.

Recently, Sikato Primary School hosted the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) Torerayi Moyo for the Policy Dialogue on Safeguarding Intangible Heritage in Basic Education.

The minister took the opportunity to tour the school’s projects during the water challenges were highlighted.

Sikato Primary School Head Loveness Dumbu later told EnviroPress that the borehole was yielding less and less water due to the prolonged dry spell.

“We share the water with the community and demand is rising yet the borehole does not have capacity to meet the demand. When the weather is cloudy, the pump does not run because there is no sufficient power for it. This means we can spend the whole day without water, which is bad especially for the fish project,” said Dumbu.

She said she hoped the rains will come sooner as that would reduce the need for borehole water, and significantly lower the temperatures.

In his response Moyo promised to help address the school’s water challenges.

 “I am pleased with what I have seen, and the milestones you have made in promoting the Intangible Cultural Heritage Initiative. I have also noted with concern the water crisis you are faced with, and on my part I will talk with the Minister of State and the local Member of Parliament so that we can come up with a solution,” said Moyo.