admin
Shepherd Chimururi-Youth Interactive Correspondent
A packed Zimsec Centre CDTS auditorium reverberate to the cheers of children, teachers and parents as infant computer wizards battled in the ninth edition of Dzidzo Inhaka Infant Computer Science E-sports Harare region tournament held recently.
The event attracted 140 infants between the ages of three and four years from 13 ECD centres who participated in different activities that covered ICT syllabus topics such as typing, drawing, colouring, matching.
Kuwadzana-based Rose of Sharon Junior School which is coached by Wellington Simiko emerged the winner after scooping four gold and four bronze medals.
Derbyshire Infant came second with two gold and four silver while Connect Kids Junior was third scooping one gold, two silver and two bronze.
Marciskool Academy which is under the guidance of Emmanuel Kanyongo ruled the roost in the infant level for Chitungwiza region as they scooped two gold, five silver and two bronze.
The competitions were held at Shining Smiles Primary Ziko campus. Minnieland Preschool came second with two gold, one silver, two bronze medals while Royal Hearts Jnr settled for get third position with two gold and two silver.
Other schools that got a piece of the cake included Blossom kids Junior, Peter Piper Pre-school, Talent Star Educare, Creative Care Jnr, Shining Smiles Primary and Eagle Heights Pre-school.
Again some medals were shared among South Side View Pre-school, Springdew Infant, Avante Pre-school, Arise and Shine Junior, Gracious Kids Pre-school and Dawn Academy. Gold medal winner, five-year-old Anotida Hwingwiri, said she was happy with the competition.
“I was doing painting using the science software. I look forward again to win gold at the finals,” she said.
At junior level, the players did activities extracted from the Zimsec syllabus like typing, drawing, coding, Powerpoint presentation, Excel and played mathematical basketball games.
Shining Smiles Junior School which is coached by the ICT teacher Annah Guze, recovered from their loss at infant level to post a massive win with seven Gold, one sliver and eight bronze.
The player of the tournament Lionel Chigu (10), teamed up with Romeo Matsapa to break a previous record held by Charles Sambo from Connect Kids Jnr to win gold.
“My secret to success is to listen to the coach and work hard as a team. My ambition is to be a robotics engineer responsible for designing, building, maintaining and repairing robots.
Five-year-old computer geek Miles Kusvabadika an ECD B pupil was the star of the show after scooping three medals.
“When I grow up I want to make computers and give them to my peers who don’t have them at home. My advantage is that I have my personal computer at home. This made me to win,” said Miles.
Royal Hearts Jnr came third with a gold and bronze medal.
Other teams that shared medals included Talent Star Educare, Creative Care Jnr and Adonai Private School from Wedza.
Samuel Zhanje (10) who participated in the flags of Africa competition, was the star player for Adonai Private School.
“At first, I was nervous but eager to compete. After winning, I was thrilled that I made my parents, teachers and Wedza community proud. Now the expectations on me to perform are higher than ever before and that is to me an important motivational factor,” said Samuel.
“I’m thankful to Dzidzo Inhaka Computer Science E-Sports for such a platform that made me realise that geographical location should not be a barrier to technological advancement for every Zimbabwean child.”
Results for the Harare region Junior e-sports competitions where Otilfield Preparatory school from Mhondoro, Connect Kids Jnr, Rose of Sharon Jnr, Derbyshire Infant, Mabel Crest Jnr and Avante Jnr, Quality Academy, Arise and Shine Jnr and Kim Kids Jnr participated were not available at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, Dzidzo Inhaka is preparing to launch high school computer science e-sports competitions starting with a workshop to be held at Mother Touch School on July 17.
The competitions are set for a big boom as the host organisation is now registered with Computer Science E-sports South Africa with some South African partners.
Online Reporter