adminNqobile Tshili Chronicle Reporter
RAISING education standards in Matabeleland North – the worst performing province in the country – requires a change of mindset by teachers, a senior official said yesterday.Marist Brothers in Dete is the only school that has consistently made it in the top 50 national Zimsec schools league based on Ordinary and Advanced Level results.
Other schools in the province must work harder and not resign themselves to “mediocrity”, Matabeleland North Provincial Education Director Boithatelo Mnguni told a Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta) provincial annual general meeting in Bulawayo.
“Don’t make mediocrity your standard of excellence. There are schools which are content with 54 percent pass rates and are not aiming to improve,” said Mnguni.
She challenged teachers to adopt a positive attitude at work despite challenges as well as working hard to improve their personal lives, which impact on their professional performance.
She added: “You’re nation-builders and you should not look down upon yourselves. Sometimes you hear a teacher saying ‘how I can afford this or that when I am just a teacher’. Desist from such a mediocre mentality.”
She expressed concern over low examination pass rate by schools in districts such as Tsholotsho and Hwange where she said there was a desperate need for improvement.
Mnguni expressed confidence that the province was going to do better this year saying two percent improvement in the 2013 Grade Seven results was worth noting.
The Grade Seven pass rate in the province improved from 17 percent in 2012 to 19 percent in 2013. Some participants said Matabeleland North province should be separated from Bulawayo when it comes to the marking of Grade Seven examinations.
“We’re still joined with Bulawayo metropolitan province when it comes to marking of Grade 7 examinations and you can imagine marking an English paper from a student from Bulawayo and that from a deep rural school in Matabeleland North,” said one of the participants from the floor.
The participants said the continued operation of the province’s staff in Bulawayo had a negative bearing on the performances of the pupils.
They also said the province had few markers compared to other provinces and urged government to look into the issue urgently.
Online Reporter