adminRecently, the College had the privilege to interview two of its top students, Bongekile Ndlovu, who scored 18 points (Accounting A, Mathematics A, Economics B, Business Studies B) and Thabiso Makhurane with 15 points (Sociology A, Geography A, History A).
Bongekile Ndlovu, who passed her Zimsec A-Level November 2011 public examinations with flying colours says she felt on top of the world and that the achievement was a dream come true. Asked what had contributed to her success in the examinations, she attributed it to the commitment of the teachers to their work and the extra help pupils got in problematic areas.
She also credited her circle of friends who were dedicated and supportive.
The advice from her dear parents as well as the inspirational Principal, Mr Eben Ben Kawadza, kept her focused on her studies and the achievement of her goals.
As a woman, Bongekile was naturally inspired by successful businesswomen and dreams of owning a financial institution. Mr D Moyo, her economics teacher, also had a huge influence on her desire to own a successful bank.
She plans to enroll for a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Banking and Finance at the local university. She urges those who are studying for their A-Levels to focus on their studies and utilise to their advantage both the human and material resources availed to them.
Most importantly, they should emulate those who succeeded before them and even aim higher.
Ambition to be a lawyer and to form and run a non-governmental organisation drives a student to achieve outstanding results. Thabiso Makhurane was at a loss for words to describe how she felt upon receiving her results slip.
She was overwhelmed. Her gateway to success was simple: serious study and economical socialisation. Secondly, she took heed of the advice given by teachers and the principal. There was a time when she felt they were being overburdened by assignments, but inspired by a strong moral and academic conviction, coupled with God’s grace, the challenge was surmountable: it happened. The rest is history.
Philanthropist, the late Mother Theresa, is her inspiration and her wish is to one day run a non-governmental organisation, doing social or charity work bordering on human rights.
She intends to study law at a local university, as the profession is attractive to her desire to put things right.
Her advice to aspiring A-Level pupils is that they should set high goals and follow their action plans closely.
They should always seek advice from distinguished scholars and ambitious parents and guardians.
Judging from the expressions of the two outstanding students, it is worth mentioning that they are both passionate about employment creation as opposed to job seeking tendencies and they owe their success to hard work and advice from credible people.
In its quest to fulfil this goal, the College has set up irresistible offers to its A-Level students with effect from 2012.
The College Director of Studies, Mr Message Ncube, said: “The College will find means of giving bursaries to cover university financial needs of any of our students who will
manage to score 20 points or better starting from this year. This will be part of our corporate social responsibility.”
Summary writing skills
A pass at O-Level English language is required for a student wishing to pursue further studies and for employment purposes.
This week we discuss the first part of summary writing at O-Level.
A summary is a selection of the main points of a passage. Usually specific aspects in the passage have to be summarised and the number of words specified.
Whether a pupil is writing Cambridge or Zimsec examinations at O-Level, the approach to summary writing is generally the same.
Below is a guideline on how a pupil can approach summary writing.
1. Read the question carefully, identify the key words. e.g. Zimsec 1122/2- November 2003.
Write a summary of the matador’s action from the moment he enters the ring up to the time he kills the bull.
The key words in the summary question are: the matador’s action. (It would be irrelevant, for instance to describe what the bull did.)
2. Read the area of summarisation carefully — this the summary boundary and it is clearly stated in the task e.g. use the material from paragraph 4 to 8.
3. Identify and list the relevant summary points. The points should be listed in chronological order — i.e. in the order in which they appear in the text. (If points are not in chronological order, then they are out of sequence and therefore will not score.)
Write down the points as they are in the text (as in the selective summary). Sometimes there is need to reduce the length of the statement by using your own words or omitting some words but make sure you do not change the context of the statement.
(Distortion) e.g. in the Zimsec 112/2 November 2003, the first five points on the actions of the matador are as follows.
Points
1. (and in ringing eloquent tones,) dedicated the next bull to one of the maidens ( whose name was Gloria) — lines 26-7.
2. Then, Gloria champion (he) walked out across the sand — lines 36-7.
3. He took up his stand — line 38.
4. The matador (he) gave a loud clear shout to the bull — line 38-39.
5. In response the boy (he) reacted with cold courage and movements of continued beauty — line 40-41 etc.
NB. Ensure that you have picked all the required points that are demanded within the specific stated lines or paragraphs.
6. Write a rough draft of the summary.
It is in the rough draft that you prune or add words/points to the required length. Check spelling, punctuation and structural errors. Leave out detail.
7. Write the final summary in continuous writing (not in note form).
Please write in neat and clear handwriting, beginning your summary by using the ten given words.
8. Indicate the number of words used at the end of the summary.
l NB. Examiners physically count the number of words used to determine the range of Standard Deviations — i.e. Marks would be awarded or deducted for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
(To be continued)
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