Manicaland schools’ pass rate rises

Wimbainashe Zhakata Mutare Correspondent
MANICALAND schools’ pass rate has risen, as demonstrated by the number of pupils getting 15 points and above at Advanced Level, five “As” at Ordinary Level and five units at Grade Seven, an official has said. Speaking at the Manicaland provincial merit awards held at Mutare Boys’ High School last Friday, provincial education director Mr Edward Shumba said in 2017, Grade Sevens had a pass rate of 56,37 percent with 278 candidates getting five units.

“O-Level had a pass rate of 30 percent with 1 349 candidates with five ‘A’s and above while for A-Level there was a pass rate of 88,97 percent with 203 candidates scoring 15 points and above,” said Mr Shumba.
He added that the province boasted excellent levels of participation in sports, arts and culture.

“In athletics for the National Association of Primary School Heads (NAPH), we came second this year. Manicaland was position two in athletics at national level.

“We also did well at the National Association of Secondary School Heads (NASH) national tennis competitions where we won gold,” he said.

Mr Shumba revealed that Nyasha Chirikutsi of St Joseph’s Primary School of Makoni District won gold at national level in the Home Grown School Feeding Essay Competition.

“Some competitions in disciplines such as soccer, handball, volleyball and basketball are still underway. I hope as a province we are going to make it at national level too,” he said.

Additionally, Mr Shumba said the province’s aim was to continue scoring high.
“True, we are leading in both provincial and national ratings but this is not the best,” he said.

He, however, revealed that in academic circles, there were some schools that were scoring 100 percent pass rates while others were still at zero percent.

“It is however, one of our principles in the Performance Lag Address Programme (PLAP) that no child should be left behind,” he said.

“Despite being a successful province in education, Manicaland has its own challenges in the education sector that include non-payment of fees and levies. Section 75 of our Constitution gives the child the right to education. No one should deprive the child that right and I do agree with this in total.”