Sakubva produces academic giant

News Editor
TRUE to their motto: ‘‘Where standards are set’’, First Class Academy has continued to soar the dizzy heights of academic excellence.Although most cities’ oldest suburbs like Mbare, Makokoba, Rimuka, Rujeko and Mutapa are associated with all social ills, Mutare’s own ghetto, Sakubva has produced an academic giant which has continued to do wonders and is not only putting the city but the whole province on the map.

Basking in the glory of being awarded the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Secretary’s bell merit award last year, First Class Academy went on to prove to the world that the award was no fluke as the crop of last year’s Advanced Level candidates performed exceptionally well.

The college had 207 students with six points and above, with the highest student being Sharon Chapungu who scored a whopping 19 points from the four subjects she sat for the November Zimsec examinations.

Chapungu scored three As in Economics, Accounts, Business Studies as we as a B in Mathematics.

Following close to her was Bernard Nhokwara who had 17 points (Business Studies A, Accounts A, Mathematics A and Geography D). A total of 13 students had 14 points, while eight students had 13 points.

The college recorded 96 percent pass-rate in Business Studies, Accounting (81 percent), Mathematics (67 percent), Economics (81 percent), Further Mathematics (100 percent), History (100 percent), Divinity (96 percent), Literature in English (98 percent) and Shona (95 percent). However, the lowest pass-rate was recorded in Geography after the college scored a disappointing 45 percent. Overally the college had a pass rate of 86 percent.

Like a true commander who leads his troops from the front, the college’s principal, Mr Stephen Mutsongodza, proved that he is results driven after emerging as the best teacher. Mr Mutsongodza had the highest number of distinctions recorded in the subject he teaches.

Mr Mutsongodza, who doubles as Business Studies teacher, had 40 students scoring A grades in the subject, while 46 scored B grades.

He was followed by Mr Tandawara who had 23 and 18 students scoring A and B grades respectively in Accounting.
In Economics, Mr Matungwana had six students scoring A grades.

As per the college’s tradition of rewarding excellence, the college last Friday honoured its pledge of reimbursing schools fees for the whole year to any student who attains 15 points and above.

This year’s recipients were Sharon Chapungu and Bernard Nhokwara.

An over the moon Chapungu said her dream of pursuing Actuarial Science was now becoming a reality.

“I am very excited to have scored 19 points during last year’s examinations. I am over the moon and this was a result of hard work and words of encouragement from my parents and college staff members. Mr Mutsongodza was my greatest motivator as he was in the habit of giving us words of encouragement. I will forever cherish his words of wisdom for the rest of my life.

“With these results I will pursue studies in Actuarial Science, something I always dreamt of. I am still to decide on which university to enrol in, both locally and abroad.

“As a word of encouragement to this year’s candidates, I want to say remain focused because everything in life requires hard work and commitment. Fellow students should respect their teachers because they know what it takes to make one pass. I want to challenge all the candidates to surpass what we achieved this year and make First Class Academy an academic bastion,” she said.

The college’s vice-principal, Mrs Tracey Mutsongodza, urged all candidates to take up the challenge and excel in their studies.

“This year we had a student scoring 19 points and I want to challenge all candidates to aim for 20 or 25 points. Nothing is impossible if one shows the zeal to excel.

“Us here we want nothing else but the best out of you. We will play our role by giving you a conducive environment to study and you in turn should complement that by your dedication to your studies. You should not let trivialities disrupt your studies. Your future is in your hands and it is up to you to make or destroy it.

“We should shun the ‘pull him or her down syndrome’ which is very common among some of us. If we walk together and focus on a common goal, excellent results will be our reward,” she said.

Mrs Mutsongodza said the college would continue honouring its pledge of refunding school fees for the whole year for all students who score 15 points and above.