adminis the day we will stand on these grounds and point to a modern building and say this is what our former students at Mount St Mary’s have given back to us.
“Unfortunately this is still to materialise, as we are yet to come up with an association of that nature,” is the wish list of Mr Crispen Ranganai Maruni, the acting principal at Mount St Mary’s Mission in Hwedza.
That is his wish but so far nothing has come off the ground despite the greater need for such an association at the Catholic-run school.
As you step on the school grounds, you are greeted by an old general-purpose hall and an equally old three-roomed house used as the administration block housing offices of the headmaster and his deputy.
A stone’s throw away to the south, is a similar building that is used by the local priest as the mission centre.
The two buildings clearly show that the school is yearning for a more modern administration complex.
One other thing that you surely will pick if you are observant is, despite the fact that institution is old, the environment is kept clean. A tour of the school confirms that someone is doing his or her job of cleaning the grounds.
Established in 1952, the Roman Catholic-run educational institution has produced some of the country’s most illustrious sons and daughters and will surely claim top position on the country educational map.
A number of these have gone to become important leaders in civil service and private sector thus can establish an alumni that can help raise resources to erect modern complexes.
Among them are Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga, Air Marshall Perrance Shiri, Education, Sport, Arts and Culture secretary Dr Stephen Mahere, Rainbow Towers general manager Louis Masakara, sitting Hwedza South Member of the House of Assembly Mrs Rosemary Goto and Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe secretary general Raymond Majongwe among others.
Mr Maruni said: “Some of those people have time and again helped the institution in the past but not as an old student association. I know their positions in the society demand that they cater for a larger constituency than the school.
“Efforts to establish an old student association here has been made but nothing tangible has come out of it. We once had an OSA but it was not vibrant and sometime ago meetings were held seeking to establish or revamp the old association but no meaningful progress has been made.
“I would rather we start on a new page and establish a new alumni for the school.”
He said apart from those who were constantly in touch with the school the majority of the former students has forgotten about the institution.
“We therefore wish to engage them and remind them of their roots to ensure we can come together and start directing the development of the institution,” he said.
Currently, Mount St Mary’s Mission which is part of institution that also provides a primary school, a nurse training centre and a district hospital, relies heavily on support from the responsible authority, private organisations and individuals and mainly from schools fees.
But with the harsh economic climate and the institution charging only US$330 as boarding fees – the bulk of the money going towards the purchase of food – there is no hope for meaningful development at the institution.
In spite of these resource constrains the school continues to shine on the educational side, recording a 90 percent pass rate including 15 pointers in last year’s Advanced Level examinations.
The buildings are getting a facelift
“We are not sitting on our laurels and crying for help. The school administration in consultation with the School Development Committee have revamped the water supply system, improved the toilet water system and constructed a new blair toilet for use in the event of a cut in water supplies. We have also embarked on repainting of school blocks and hope to finish the work this term before the rains.
“The school has to make do with the little resources that are available. That is one area that the school believes the former students can come in handy. We will appreciate those who will come forward and help in renovating the institution,” he said.
A critical shortage of resources at the institutions has also seen the school failing to enroll students for Advanced Level sciences, forcing it to act as a feeder to other schools.
As such the school has been offering only arts and commercial subjects to pupils since getting advanced status in 2002 because it has failed to construct a science laboratory – a prerequisite for offering A-Level science subjects.
“What we have are laboratories only suitable for Ordinary Level studies and that has dealt us a huge blow as we cannot compete with other schools in the region and in our diocese. We have a good class of Ordinary Level science but have to surrender those brains to other schools year after year. I wish one day we will be able to establish a science class and retain our students.
“Resources permitting, we hope to start upgrading our laboratories so that they can be used to teach A-Level students in the coming years.”
Deputy head Mr Shepherd Dzvairo concurred with Mr Muruni saying only a vibrant old student organisation would spearhead fundraising for such massive programmes.
“The school system is being constrained by lack of resources and cannot take those grand development projects. We were impressed with what we saw at Kutama College. That is what former students can do if they come together and decide to help their former schools,” he said.
Hwedza district education director, a Mr Paridzira said the education system required the support of former students because the Government has a lot on its plate.
“Surely former students need to help their schools. We have received lots of help from General Chiwenga but he alone cannot solve our problems, hence the need to harness that constituency,” Mr Paridzira said
Just like most old schools, Mount St Mary’s is facing a myriad of problems being one of the oldest schools in the country. It is facing a number of problems including an aging infrastructure.
Because of the ongoing power outages, the school has to rely on generators and that has been chewing a chunk of their resources. This has at times affected their water supply system as the institution is fed from electricity-powered boreholes.
Once the power is off the school relies on two manual pumps. These are shared between the primary school and the hospital.
A dust road, that locals say is difficult to negotiate during the rainy season and thus is serviced by open trucks, connects the mission to the main road.
This puts school children and the sick visiting the hospital at risk, as most of the vehicles are not fit to carry people.
The school has plans to buy a bigger school bus, as the 30-seater mini bus was not only small but also unreliable. As such they have been forced to fork out a lot of money whenever they are going for games and other annual school meetings.
“Grand plans are in place to replace that small bus with a conventional 75-seater that will be able to transport the pupils safely.
“Recently we went to Kutama College for Catholic games and were forced to pump out US$1 000 to hire a bus to and from Zvimba. That is our dilemma and calls for support of well wishers,” Mr Maruni said.
The school is also in need of new administration block that houses the administration centres for both the responsible authority, the headmaster’s office and the staff room.
Currently teachers are housed in three different rooms at the school. Plans are underway to add new hostels and classrooms to decongest the existing ones that were built some years ago.
That indeed requires the support of former students who have gone to make it in life and can contribute a cent or two to the school.
l Do you think your school is facing challenges? Do you want to reach out for help to your former students? This is your platform. Get in touch with me on [email protected] or 795 771 ext 1351 between 9am and 5pm during weekdays.
Online Reporter