Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
SEASONED educationist and senior Government official Mrs Tumisang Thabela has retired from the public service, ending 43-years of loyal service rendered in various portfolios of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Mrs Thabela was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and retired on 14 August 2023 having rose through the ranks from joining the ministry as a teacher in 1982. In an interview with Sunday News, Mrs Thabela said she retired having reached the retirement age. She spoke glowingly about some of her successes and achievements particularly when she was a senior officer in the ministry.
“The first thing which I noticed which was a big worry to me when I was still in charge of Matabeleland South was that children’s performance was very depressed at about 13 percent when I got there, that is for ordinary level. I also noticed that perhaps there was something wrong with the menu that we were giving children because I did not believe that they would just fail just like that but the curriculum was not addressing the things which they were good at.
“I started vocationalising our curriculum. I called upon our districts to follow the then recommendations of the commission of enquiry into education. We started looking at the skills of the children. I think that was my major highlight as performance started looking positive. We started talking to various examining boards like HEXCO, and institutions like the Traffic Safety Board and the Ministry of Transport. This saw us introducing things like driving lessons in schools like Madlambudzi and some other schools picked up from there,” she said.
She said when she finally became Secretary she ensured that skills development had to go national as the experiment was done in Matabeleland South and had worked. The implementation of skills development later saw the establishment of technical high schools.
“The next achievement emphasised on foundational education. We tend to worry so much about results at Grade Seven, Ordinary and Advanced Level but the fact of the matter is that children would not have enough numerical and literal skills at Grade Two. So, when they fail that at Grade Two, they will not do well at Grade Seven. So, we have been pushing for that,” she said.
Mrs Thabela said they also pushed for the industrialisation of education focusing on STEM and the visual performing arts where they were saying creativity should be part of whatever was happening.
“We also reduced the cost of education through commercializing the space. We have some land in every school and the challenge has been how do we follow Cabinet declaration that schools should be commercial so that the cost of running those schools is reduced,” she said.
Asked on the poor rural pass rates that were being recorded, Mrs Thabela said what needed to be done was to ensure that geography does not become a reason for exclusion. She said there was need to deliberately channel resources to help the rural schools compete with their urbanites. Resources such as connectivity, solar power, water were identified as some of the things that will make them do what any person can do away from the rural area. She said there was need to work on improving staff and provide accommodation for teachers.
Born and bred in Buvuma, Gwanda South Mrs Thabela got married in Beitbridge where she lives in Tongwe. She joined the education sector on 1 January 1982 as a teacher and graduate from University of Zimbabwe. She began by teaching at Mzingwane Boys High before being transferred to Filabusi Government High School as deputy headmistress in September 1988. In 1989 she was appointed acting headmistress at Tongwe Government High School before being transferred to Gwanda Government School in 1991 as acting headmistress. In 1995 she went to Montrose and became the deputy headmistress before being elevated to head the school in 2000.
Mrs Thabela was later that year regraded to education officer in Gwanda, a position she held until he was promoted to being Matabeleland South deputy Provincial Education Director in 2014. She was later appointed Principal Director Curriculum Development (now called Chief Director) in 2017 and elevated to Permanent Secretary in 2018, a position she held until her retirement.
Mrs Thabela said for now she wanted to rest from a long 43 years of service while she would be farming before seeing what she could do after about three months.
She said she would miss the school children as they have been her life and had always wanted to make a difference in each child so that they achieved their dream. — @nyeve
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