Chipinge English teachers meet

Freedom Matanda
AS the O-Level results in English were analysed at school level, there was a distinct part that could be seen from afar like a sore thumb: the absence of many quality passes and that impelled the chairperson of the Chipinge English Panel to convene a meeting of heads of department at Chipinge School to share ideas on improving the quality of passes.

Since 2011, the panel worked hard to eliminate a zero percent scourge that attacked the district in the pre-2012 era.
Over the years, from 11 percent pass rate in 2011, the 30 percent recorded in 2013 was a step in the right direction.

Last Friday, 45 HODs met in Chipinge where they had a cross pollination of ideas after each one of them had told the house about the school and non-formal students’ pass rates.

Generally, the reasons proffered for the low pass rates were the same.
Mr Reuben Munyaka, from Musirizwi Secondary School, summed up the reasons thus: “Our students have a real phobia for the subject.
“We don’t have reading resources. Many of these students have no reason being at secondary school in the first instance as they can scarcely write anything meaningful.
“In light of that, there has to be a paradigm shift in the way we teach for us not to weep over appalling results that come out year in year out.”

Gaza High School and Mount Selinda High School breached the 50 percent pass rate. Mr Timothy Dhliwayo, the English HOD at the former, said it is not a stroll in the park to have such a good pass rate as the teacher gave students a lot of practice notwithstanding the abnormal classes obtaining at the school.

The Manica Post columnist, Mr Morris Mtisi, told the gathering that he was in the trenches with them, but on the question of quality, he urged teachers to allow students to be adventurous with their language, but he was not averse to simplicity.

Mr Samuel Tusabantu bemoaned the lack of a reading culture among students, but said teachers’ marking of compositions must be beneficial and not fall on the testing side.

Mr Elijah Chitambo, from Avontuur Secondary School, thanked the panel for organising workshops the previous year and hoped that in 2015, more workshops would be lined up.

“Last year we had a common paper which was preceded by workshops.
“I do believe that went a long way in raising the standards of teaching in the district. To that end, I urge you to keep it up.”

All members were agreed on the need to have skills-based workshops that equip teachers of English to tackle any aspect of the language.
In the second term, more workshops will be held culminating in the writing of an English Language common paper in Chipinge.

It remains to be seen whether the district will reach the heights it envisages in its fight against the low pass rates after it emerged that 22 percent passed English in Manicaland.