adminNgoni Dapira
MANICALAND excelled in the fourth-edition of the 2014 DStv Eutelsat Star pan-African competition with two students coming out tops at country level in the poster category.
The awards for the essay writing and poster competition were presented on Monday at Hellenic International Academy in Harare.
The two students, Marlon Marume (18) from Mutare Boys’ High School and Beverly Saungweme (18) from Hartzell High School were awarded certificates and a DStv decoder each after emerging as the country runner-ups.
Hellenic International College’s Joseph Mahiya was the overall winner in the essay competition, while Lesley Chakurira from Lomagundi College was the first runner-up in the poster competition.
Mahiya won a trip for two to visit the Eutelsat base in France.
Eutelsat is a French-based satellite provider and one of the world’s leading satellite operators with capacity commercialised on 34 satellites serving users in over 150 countries worldwide.
The competition that ran last year saw over 1 000 entries from students in 14 countries across the continent.
It was running under the theme: “Imagine you are a satellite, orbiting high above your own country, above your own home or school.”
Multichoice Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Lovemore Mangwende, said the theme was developed in line with the competition’s aim of educating children about satellite technology and how the world benefits from satellite technology.
During the prize giving presentation on Monday, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Dr Lazarus Dokora, said it was encouraging to see Zimbabwean students excelling in regional competitions.
He urged children not only to strive knowing about technologies, but to also strive to be creators of the technologies.
“The Ministry prioritises technological development and its use in everyday life. Our students are also encouraged to strive to be creators and innovators, even inventors of new technologies that contribute to the transformation of the world for the better.
“This is in line with the provisions of the ZimAsset (Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation) blueprint. It is quite retrogressive to try to fight technology,” said Dr Dokora.
He, however, said the use of technology in the schools system must be regulated to prevent abuse. Dr Dokora added that satellite technology was already bringing benefits to Zimbabwe by providing the extension of communication to the remotest of communities.
MBHS school head, Mr Matthew Tondoya, said his schools was mostly known in sporting excellence, but his goal was to excel in academic as well, which was proven by his winning student.
“We are excited to excel in regional competitions. We have generally been known as a school of sporting excellence, but my goal is to leave a mark of academic excellence as well.
“Our pass rates since 2008 have been rising. Ordinary Level in 2008 was 33 percent, but now it is 58.2 percent, while Advanced Level went up to 89 percent last year. I thank the students and teachers for their dedication to duty,” said Mr Tondoya.
The elated Marume who is an Art, Shona and History Form Six student, said winning such competitions showed him that art was his calling.
“I have won many local competitions since I took up Art as a subject last year while doing Form Five. Before, I used to take it as a hobby, so winning such competitions shows my potential to make Art a career when I finish school.
“I hope to become an internationally recognised artist like Leonardo Da Vinci and leave a mark in the world, not just in Zimbabwe,” said the determined Marume.
Marume received full-colour honours at his school for excelling in several local and national art competitions last year.
MBHS visual arts patron and Art teacher, Mr Jawett Pedzeni, thanked DStv for giving children the opportunity to showcase their talents through the competition. He said such platforms encourage students to take Art seriously as careers.
Online Reporter