Excellence makes Tsholotsho High school of choice

Amanda Mlevu, Sunday News Reporter

IT was all pomp and fanfare at Tsholotsho High School as the school celebrated its academic and extra-curricular activities excellence after a four year hiatus inspired by the Covid-19 lockdown.

The school held its speech and prize giving day on Friday where Provincial Education Director for Matabeleland North Mr Jabulani Mpofu was the guest of honour.

The day was held under the theme, “safe schools, up in arms against drug abuse menace,” which dove-tails with the country’s fight against the rampant drug and substance abuse scourge among the youths.

Mr Mpofu encouraged the pupils to prioritise their future and respect their bodies by abstaining from drugs.

“We are witnessing many youths engaging in drugs and other dangerous substances. This is detrimental not only to their physical and mental health but also to their future success as it leads to psychiatric distress, health disorders leading to them dropping out of school,” he said.

“I implore learners to take heed of the advice and guidance given to them by their teachers during guidance and counselling sessions and religious gatherings so as to continue to make this school a drug free zone.”

During his speech he said Tsholotsho High had been and continued to be recognised by many as the premier centre of educational excellence in the province. He said the school continued to give them pride as it had done well over the years in all disciplines including academics, sports and entrepreneurship to name a few.

“The well-rounded education that is offered here ensures that all learners who graduate from this school of first choice become productive citizens who are able to contribute to the development of the country,” said Mr Mpofu.

“It is pleasing to note that despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which affected teaching and learning for two years, the school has continued to persevere academically. Between 2018 and 2022, the pass rate for A’ Level went up from 89 percent to a soaring 94 percent in 2022,” he said.

A tour around the school by the Sunday News revealed that it has since solarised its administration block, installed a cold room and bought a school bus. They have also embarked on a thriving agriculture project, which has significantly reduced the money they use in buying produce to feed their pupils.

The SDC chairperson of the school, Mr Mduduzi Sibanda, said there were several projects that they have been working on not only to ensure the smooth running of the school, but also to raise the standard of excellence through production in line with the Government’s Education 5.0 that seeks to produce an all rounder.

“We have managed to increase production levels in the agriculture unit. This has enabled us to keep our fees as low as possible while maintaining a high standard of service for learners,” said Mr Sibanda.

He said they installed a new 6x4m cold-room, bought 100 chairs and desks for pupils, 600 new plates and cups, brand new Toyota Hilux, solarised the cold-room and the administration block and these were achievements done in a very short period of time.

“We also managed to install solar powered borehole with a 10 000 litre Jojo tank to arrest the problem of water at the school. Prior to the development, water was a problem at the school by nature of the school’s geographical location. We want our students to learn without any setbacks and difficulties so we will continue to work hard and plan beforehand for their education,” said Mr Sibanda.

The headmaster of the school, Mr Sicelo Dube, said he was happy that the dangers of drugs have always been taught to learners and that Tsholotsho High was a drug free school with hopes that it would stay that way.

“We have noticed a disturbing trend among youths of abuse of drugs, hence the theme. I am happy to inform you all that we are only reading that from newspapers. Our children have not yet got into this menace,” he said.

He said although the school had performed overally well, going above 50 percent since 2017 and rising to a high of 78.8 percent just before the pandemic, the post Covid-19 period was expected to ensure the school’s performance returned to its former glory days as normalcy returns.

“Note that our average O-level candidates stand at 190 while at A-level the number hovers around 75. So if we are above 50 percent e have more than 110 students with five passes and above,” said Mr Dube.

“For this year we have 53 A-level candidates and 157 O-lLevel candidates writing. They have successfully done their CALAs and are ready for the exam. As a school our belief is in prayer. Last week the whole school had a week of prayer, specifically praying for the writing candidates.”

He said they held holiday lessons during August and expressed hope the crush programmes helped the learners because effective teaching and learning was what defined the school as a centre of excellence.

Mr Dube closed the ceremony by promising all parents who have passports that they will test drive the new bus to Musina to buy groceries for their children.

“When the bus arrives we will organise with all parents who have passports to taste drive our new 72 seater bus to Musina,” he said.

Yesterday the school celebrated their achievements with a braai.