adminFreedom Mutanda
In September 2015, Mount Selinda High School students went to Chipinge to protest against the church in what they termed a bad intrusion of the UCCZ on the running of its flagship institution. Many pundits predicted a bleak future for the Form 4’s and 6’s. This year’s ‘O’ and ‘A’ level results vindicated the head so much that the old adage he who laughs last laughs the longest could be relevant here.
This writer wrote last year that whenever elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers the most. In the context of the Mount Selinda High School debacle, it is fitting that children did not suffer the most out of the senseless power struggle pitting the incumbent head and the UCCZ family.
Many luminaries came through Mount Selinda; once, there was a teacher training college at Mount Selinda and the educational conveyor belt is still producing academic giants. Today, the greater number of Zimbabweans are educated and the school is proud to be one of the institutions that are a source of pride to the nation.
Fittingly, the powers that be at Mount Selinda High School, decided to call it ‘’Chinyuka,’’ a Ndau word for source of a river and some would like to call it a spring. Some analysts say the current head, Reverend Watson Bundwa, unilaterally put the middle name of the school as “Chinyuka’’ and for that, he had to go.
Chinyuka is an embodiment of the African ethos. It is at the spring that women met and discussed developmental issues. Therefore, Mount Selinda is for development.
Given that everyone wants good things, many people weren’t happy about the unfolding events at Mount Selinda. For that, a number of analysts were sure that the school would not repeat the heroic feats of yesteryear. It was not going to be as the school improved on its 2014 performance in terms of pass rate although there were fewer 15 pointers.
Vuso Gapara, a parent was happy that the school has produced a good pass rate but expressed reservation on the strike action by the students last year as he believes that the rate would have been higher if everything was serene through-out the year.
‘’Yes, the pass rate, at 61%, was good as compared to the 55% for last year. We may be happy without looking at the dynamics at play. The majority of the students had 4-12 units when they were initially enrolled and their parents expected a clean sweep of the subjects. One may argue that some of the children with the ability to excel may have been affected by the strike. All the same, Bundwa and his team of dedicated teachers must be applauded for having produced wonderful passes notwithstanding the spirit of indiscipline that visited the school just before students sat down for their examinations,’’ Vuso Gapara said.
He is right in a way. The writer is of the opinion that Grade 7 results and ‘O’ level ones must be critically scrutinized. To illustrate, Celani Mhloyi, had 13 units at Grade 7 and in 2016 he had 5A’s and 4B’s. It is worth noting that the latter learnt at a day school with limited resources.
Why do high fliers at primary school sometimes fail to pass their ‘O’ level? That is a subject for another day,
Incredibly, the English language department had a surge in the percentage rate of ‘O’ level passes. Out of 212 candidates 149 students had passes in the subject representing 70.8% pass rate. 7 girls had A’s in English while no boy had a distinction. Baring in mind, very few students had A’s in English it is appreciated that the teacher went an extra mile in reaching that milestone.
Thelma Barauta was the teacher. She was pleased by the results. She said hard work on the part of the teacher and the students carried the day for the school. She did not want to bask in the limelight alone. She credits the administration and other teachers for the awesome record.
‘’We are indebted to the administration for the success although I must admit that teaching is a relay. Special mention should be done on the other teachers who exposed these students to the finer art of writing dating back to the primary school. Notably, the English panel for the district did a lot in sharpening my skills as well as providing common mid-year papers that were marked by a panel of experts,’’ she said in her humble demeanour.
Computers had a 100% pass rate while a daring young man entered his name for the French examination and passed. Building Studies had 100% as well. That’s in tandem with the objectives of ZIM-ASSET that encourages students to be employers rather than wait to be employed.
130 students had five or more subjects and that translates to 61%. 74 girls had five or more subjects. Thanks to independence, more girls are enrolled at institutions of secondary education. These are the same girls who provided the greater number of passes in English.
For girls, it has been a long journey and the ‘spring’ is leading the way in availing the girl child with the means to emancipate herself politically, economically and socially.
STEM subjects namely Chemistry, Physics and Biology have good pass rates which are 76%, 84% and 80% respectively. The future looks bright for the industrialization of the country when institutions such as Mount Selinda High School lead the way in giving science education to our young ones.
For now, there is a lull in hostilities between the church and school administration although there are murmurings to the effect that the ministry wants order to return to Mount Selinda High School.
Once again, there is urgent for the voice of reason to prevail for the purpose of the legacy of both Reverend Bundwa and UCCZ as a church institution. Parents are crying for a 100% pass rate.
Online Reporter