Chipinge school reaps benefits of Education 5.0 concept

Freedom Mutanda Correspondent

CHIKORE High School in Chipinge district has embraced the much touted Education 5.0 which is in sync with President Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, where the country will make significant strides into the industrialisation mode kick-started by the Second Republic.

Last Saturday, parents went through the process of seeing how their children’s lives are going to be transformed by the curriculum offered by the school. It was fitting, therefore, that the speech and prize giving day was held under the theme: Transforming lives through Education 5.0.

Chikore is the first secondary school to offer Form 1 up to 4 education in Chipinge. Many learners in the colonial era had to correspond with South African correspondence colleges to get secondary school education as the institutions that offered the subjects were very few in those days when education was a tool to oppress Africans.

Interestingly, the school used to be an institution funded by Alvord, one of the most dedicated agriculturist this country has ever known. After he went on leave, his successor, changed it into a secondary school in 1955 as he sought to complement government efforts which resulted in the founding of Goromonzi High School in 1946. The latter was the first government secondary school for Africans in Zimbabwe.

At Chikore, practical subjects are many and computer science students recently won national plaudits.

The school head, Ms Stella Mudiwa, has seen the school grow in leaps and bounds since her sojourn there which has seen the pass rate rise remarkably. She attributes the improvement to unity of purpose by the staff to realise the aspirations of Education 5.0.

“My team is unique. It pulls in the same direction,” she said.

Learners are exposed to a variety of skills that compel them to be masters of their own. For example, the Food and Nutrition department had a host of culinary delights that attracted parents.

One of the parents, Frederick Bandama, who is the UCCZ secretary of education, was impressed and said in the past, Food and Nutrition was just a mere subject to add to the numbers of subjects one would have passed, but these days, one can be an entrepreneur because of the skills obtained at school.

He said: “These learners are lucky. This Education 5.0 mantra could have made us millionaires in our heydays, but academic emphasis  made a number of us disdain practical subjects. What was the result? We made a beeline for employment opportunities instead of us being employers.’’

There is room for former pupils to come on board and help in the development of the school.

To this end, Mr Philemon Mlambo, an entrepreneur and former pupil, felt that learners should be taught survival methods in the wider world.

‘‘You can be taught to cook, sew, use computers or science equipment and so forth. However, if you can’t survive in the world, it means you are doomed,’’ he said.

There is a group of young scientists at the school who have a company they call KEPT. They are into manufacturing salt and soap. They presented how they could make the two items much to the excitement of the parents. This is the Education 5.0 that the country wants every child to be exposed to.

‘‘We don’t need a lot of things to make soap, floor polish and salt. We want to sell KEPT products to the community and the retail space. My clarion call is for every learner to create a career where one produces for the nation and for themselves,’’ said Kimberley Chikonyora, the science team leader.

Peter Gopito, the deputy head reiterated the fact that Education 5.0 pushes the school to the limit as evidenced by the two girls who scooped gold medals at the 2023 National Science, Sports and Arts Festival held at Cecil John Rhodes Primary School in Gweru.

‘‘The girls came tops in the ICT category when they competed at Mutare Boys High School against other learners from the seven districts of Manicaland at the end of September. They repeated that feat at the national finals against 22 teams drawn from all over the country,’’ he said.

Tariro Dhlakama and Tinotenda Komichi made the school proud through their innovative application which helps retailers in information management to keep track of their stock and another application that acts as an alarm system.

“I would like to be a mechatronics engineer,” said Dhlakama, who is studying Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science at A Level.

With schools embarking on Education 5.0, the country’s industrialisation drive is complementing Government efforts.

To aid that drive, former pupils donated an Epson projector, two laptops and other computer accessories valued US$2 000.

‘‘As Team 81, we felt it obligatory on our part to be part of the development trajectory of this great school,’’ said Mr Obadiah Mugano, the group spokesperson.

Chikore High School has produced many luminaries in education, industry and other professions.