Chronicle Editor
Sandisiwe Gumbo, Sunday News Reporter
St Columba’s High School in Bulawayo is determined to uphold its tradition of nurturing brilliant learners through its commitment to academic excellence.
This has been evidenced by its recent Zimsec examination results. At O-level, the school attained an impressive 98.81 percent pass rate.
With a target of at least 30 candidates achieving 15 points at A-level,13 candidates had a clean sweep while 14 learners attained 14 points each.
“We were quite close to our target and we want to correct that record as we go forward,” said Reverend Canon Albert Ncube, the school’s headmaster.
“We are already on the ground to prepare for the coming examinations and we hope that our candidates will do well for both the A-level and O-level examinations,” he added.
St Columba’s High School remains determined in its objective to enhance its performance and ensure that future candidates excel at both A-level and O-level examinations. Rev Ncube attributed the schools excellent results to a good relation culture between the school, parents, church, Ministry of Education, teachers, non-teachers and the learners.
“That culture enables the school to settle down for appropriate business. We have a tradition of working hard as an institution. Everyone who joins St Columba’s must be prepared to work in a different way because our focus is on the child,” he said.
According to the school head, the institution emphasises on allowing learners to pursue subjects of their choice. The curriculum offers specialised classes in sciences, engineering, commerce, and the arts.
“We allow our learners to do the subjects that they want as much as possible. This way, when they go to class, they do something which they really enjoy doing. We provide full packages for each specialised class,” he said.
The school maintains a strong system of supervision, remedial support, and focuses on instilling discipline to ensure holistic development of its learners. St Columba’s High School is committed to addressing areas of improvement, particularly in supporting learners who may be struggling academically.
“Supervision is intensified here. Our Head of Departments are always on the ground to supervise what members of staff are doing. We also have remedial lessons for learners that are not doing well or that are lagging behind. We create special times with those learners and give them the attention they require.
“We take discipline seriously. If you are not disciplined, you are not supposed to be at St Columba’s. Those who join St Columba’s must uphold seriously issues of discipline because we are strict on disciplinary issues. We do everything within our means, within the statutes of the country and within the teachings of the church to instill discipline in our learners as much as possible,” said Rev Ncube.
Initiatives to increase access to technology, such as expanding computer availability and integrating online teaching, are underway to enhance learning opportunities beyond the traditional classroom setting. Rev Ncube expressed deep regret regarding the candidates who did not pass their examinations, highlighting the desire to avoid such occurrences within the institution’s system in future.
“We had three candidates who did not pass their A-level examinations and two for O-level. This is very regrettable and we don’t want to see this kind of scenario within our system, that’s our focus as the St Columba’s team. We want that 100 percent (pass rate) to be maintained. We are targeting to feed national universities with very good candidates and even some international institutions must be getting candidates from us.”
Ordinary Level learners who attained 10 As were Michael Dube and Brian Muronzi. Five students obtained 9 As while 12 students managed to get an impressive 8 As each. St Columba’s High School remains dedicated in its pursuit of academic excellence, with a commitment of ensuring that every child who walks through their gates achieves their full potential.
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