‘Our aim is to produce an employer, not worker’

known for its sporting prowess that has seen it compete with the country’s best in rugby and athletics.
Some of its products have gone to represent Zimbabwe at international level in various sporting fields.
Despite being traditionally a technical school, Allan Wilson School has seen its fair share of academic achievements, but of late the school has not been performing very well.
According to the 2011 national O- and A-level rankings published by Zimsec recently, Allan Wilson came out number 349 out of 353 at A-level and did not even appear in the top 50 at O-level.
The ranking included all schools with 20 or more candidates that sat for public examinations last year.
School head Mr Blessing Njitimana admitted standards at the school have declined considerably, subsequently affecting the pass rate.
He, however, said the “boys-only” school still managed to hold its own against other schools on the sports field.
He said they are sprucing the image of the school that had been battered during the years of sanctions-induced economic meltdown.
“Sure, things have not been well at the school, but we cannot be that low.
“What people, parents and guardians need to know is that the focus of the school has never been purely academic but to train a student that is technically minded and contribute to Zimbabwe’s development in other sectors such as woodwork, metal work and sport.
“As such, we are offering technical subjects like arts, technical drawing, building, woodwork and physical education. Most of these you don’t get at Advanced Level that was used as the benchmark of the report.
“Ours is a broad curriculum, which seeks to tap on every child’s capabilities. We believe children are gifted in various capabilities that are also critical for national development,” he said.
This focus, he said, has meant that the school always came second to those schools that emphasise on purely academic prowess.
“I cannot mention names, but there are schools well known for only recruiting academically brilliant children at Grade Seven and Ordinary Level and resultantly doing well.
“This is not to say we don’t give equal emphasis on the academic side but only to say our mission also entails producing a hands-on student, who is not seeking employment but can create jobs for others.
“The school also has its fair share of former students who have done well academically. Some have gone to become medical doctors or hold influential positions in life,” Mr Njitimana argued.
He said as a community school, Allan Wilson catered for children from its feeder schools and hence cannot look for the best points at Grade 7.
“We are not autonomous like other schools. We are required to take a bigger share of pupils from the community we are operating in, even if they are not that gifted academically. That is where we differ with other schools and we feel the picture that has been painted of us is unfair,” said the deputy head, Mr Christopher Mazonde.  
The school authorities also insisted that the school had students that scored more than 15 points.
Similarly the authorities did not support their claim to academic prowess with the school’s performance records in other previous public examinations.
The school environment shows a tale of an institution that is crying for revival, a place needing complete refurbishment so that it keeps with its big name. Broken-down windowpanes, doors and decaying furniture characterise some classrooms.
Mr Njitimana blamed this on lack of resources, saying the school was operating on a shoestring budget.
“We have done our part with the little that we have been getting as levies from parents. We have resuscitated our swimming pool, done our grounds and the exterior of most of our buildings.
“As resources come we will be doing the interior of these classrooms and grounds as well. This used to be the responsibility of the public works department but because of the prevailing economic situation, the burden has been relegated to school authorities and parents.
“You will agree with me that with some of the buildings as old as 72 years, there is need for maintenance which unfortunately has been stalled by lack of resources,” he added.
This, he said, could have affected the tone of the school, but academically we are improving.
“Since 2009 we have recorded remarkable resurgence in our exam performance. In the 2011 O-level public examination we recorded a 100 percent increase on our passes for 2010 and that is a positive sign. We scored a 70 percent pass rate in Advanced Level and that is not bad.”
He, however, could not substantiate this claim with the school pass rates over the last five years but instead concentrated on technical subjects offered at the school.
“Every year we are turning away hundreds of applications from prospective Form 1 students who want to join us and I want to believe we are still marketable. I think our parents and guardians realise that there is still quality in our education.
“Our parents should not continue to put emphasis only on the academic side of education. In fact, the nation needs to be disabused of this mindset that scoring high points academically is the mark of quality education.
“This is why there is a deliberate focusing on a two-tier education system in Zimbabwe and I do not think we are doing badly on that aspect,” Mr Njitimana said.
However, some bitter parents and guardians said even the sporting section that they claim to be authorities in has not been pumping to capacity.
Some of the school’s products in the field of sport include Zimbabwe soccer international Nyasha Mushekwi, rugby players Delroy Sabau (now based in England) and Antipas Kamukwindo (now with Old Hararians) and long-distance runner Philimoni Harineki, among other disciplines.
There is, however, potential to resuscitate the school through the old boys’ committee that is being mooted as the school has many yesteryear boys now based in the US, the UK, and South Africa.
There are also many successful old boys living in Zimbabwe that can be instrumental in the school’s resurgence.
“It is our hope that former students come to the aid of the school. In fact, we now have a steering committee for an old students’ association.
“Other students are doing something for the school as individuals, and that is very welcome,” Mr Njitimana said.