Online Reporter
Bulawayo Bureau
A 19-YEAR-OLD Pamushana High School prodigy from Bikita, Masvingo Province, is celebrating an extraordinary academic feat after scoring 56 points from 12 subjects in the 2025 Zimsec Advanced Level examinations.
Mukudzei Ziveyi, who hails from Chivhu, emerged as the country’s top-performing A-Level candidate after obtaining 10 As, a B and a D — a rare achievement that has placed him among Zimbabwe’s most outstanding young scholars.
Ziveyi scored As (five points) in Additional Mathematics, Mechanical Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Geography, Pure Mathematics, Software Engineering, Statistics, Crop Science and Economics, a B (four points) in Chemistry and a D (two points) in Accounting.
While most A-Level candidates sit for between three and five subjects, Ziveyi defied convention by enrolling for 12 — a decision driven by his ambition to study Aerospace Engineering at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Aerospace engineering is a highly specialised field focused on the design, development, testing and manufacturing of aircraft and spacecraft, covering both aeronautics and astronautics.
“I give glory to God, because without prayer this would not have been possible,” said Ziveyi in an interview.
“I started with eight subjects in Lower Six whose syllabuses I finished early. Then I added four more subjects in Upper Six to make them 12. The advantage I had was that I had already covered most of the work, which made it easier to manage the workload.”
Ziveyi said juggling 12 subjects required discipline, careful planning and countless sleepless nights.
He said he made sure he attended at least one lesson for each subject every week, even though some of them clashed on the timetable.
The prodigy added that there were four subjects that clashed and he had to come up with a strategy to make sure he gave them equal attention.
The challenge intensified during examinations, when some papers were scheduled at the same time.
However, Pamushana High School applied for a timetable deviation from Zimsec, allowing him to sit all the papers under special supervision.
“I would write an examination and get a 15 minutes break before I could start the next one,” he added.
Following the release of his results, Ziveyi has begun applying for scholarships and hopes to secure one soon so he can pursue his Aerospace Engineering studies.
Academic excellence is not new for the gifted pupil.
In the 2023 Ordinary Level Zimsec examinations, he was the highest performer at Pamushana High School after scoring 15 As.
He was also among a group of 80 learners at the school who obtained at least five As.
His mother, Ms Loise Maisiri, said the family was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude.
“Mukudzei has always been a bookworm from a very young age, just like his siblings,” she said.
“When he told us he wanted to write 12 subjects, I was sceptical and encouraged him to write only six so that he would not burden himself. But he begged us, and we eventually agreed.”
To support their son’s dream, the family sold three cows to raise part of the registration fees, with the remainder coming from his father’s salary.
The family, she said, had faith in him because of how well he had passed Grade Seven and O-Level.
Ziveyi comes from a family of high achievers.
One of his brothers is a professor of Actuarial Sciences and Mathematics in Australia, his sister is a Mechanical Engineer, while another sibling is pursuing a nursing career.
Pamushana High School deputy headmaster Mr Emmanuel Zingoni said the school was immensely proud of Ziveyi’s achievement.
“He has always been a bright student and we are very proud of him for raising the school’s flag high,” he said.
“I will admit l did at one point try to reason with him that 12 subjects were too much for A Level, but he assured us that he was going to give equal attention to all of them.
“To ensure that we would be able to write all the 12 subjects, we applied for a timetable deviation from Zimsec 60 days before the examination for special arrangements. This is for candidates with clashing examination papers scheduled at the same time,” he said.
Mr Zingoni said Zimsec supervisors oversaw the alternate sittings under strict examination conditions to ensure fairness and integrity.
