Chronicle Editor
Tafadzwa Chibukwa, Features Reporter
WELL-KNOWN for its strong thrust towards science subjects, Wanezi High School in Insiza District, Matabeleland South province, has distinguished itself as the school of preference in the province.
With an enrolment of 722 pupils, largely made up of boarders, the school has maintained an impressive pass rate over the years.
Not only is the school excelling in academic endeavours, but it is also thriving in co-curricular activities and living up to its motto.
The school’s motto, “Striving for academic excellence and righteousness”, highlights the school’s aim to mould purposeful pupils.
In an interview, the school’s headmistress, Ms Dorcas Kumalo narrated how the school is striving against all odds to become the most preferred school in the province.
She revealed that the staff behind the good academic and sporting results is well-trained for the job.
Most of the teachers at the school are degree holders while others hold diplomas but are looking to further their studies.
“Our academic excellence is a result of our qualified teaching staff with 27 being graduates and 13 holding diplomas. Over the years, we’ve always had impressive pass rates at both O and A-level,” said Ms Kumalo.
The O-level pass rate was 66 percent in 2020 and rose to 81,1 percent in 2021. The A-level classes maintained an impressive pass rate that rose from 82,6 percent to 98,6 percent between 2020 and 2021.
Ms Kumalo said she was proud to be the head of a prestigious institution which was producing excellent results. She said while many schools were affected by disturbances caused by Covid-19-induced lockdowns, Wanezi High School rose to the challenge.
“The Covid-19 pandemic forced the nation into a lockdown for a long period and many schools were affected by this resulting in a drop in performance and pass rates. We didn’t fall victim to such, rather our pass rate rose to greater heights.
“As if that was not enough, working tirelessly to teach our pupils, we’ve strived to put our name out there by dominating over others and representing our district in competition with other districts. Last year, our district rose from position nine to position eight among the best districts academically because of our pass rate,” she said.
Collen Gomba, an O-level pupil at the school attained eight As and three Bs, followed by Muzomuhle Ndlovu who had eight As and two Bs.
Lacious Moyo outdid his colleagues at the A-level after attaining 17 points followed by Munashe Chandiringa who had 16 points.
Ms Kumalo said one’s background does not limit their potential to do well.
She added that the school was celebrating sterling achievements in certain subjects in which pupils stood out and attained impressive results.
At O-level, 46 pupils got As, Combined Science had 41 As, Heritage Studies 39 As and 27 As for Business Enterprise.
What gave the school more reason to celebrate is the fact that they started offering new practical subjects, Physical Education and Computer Science recently, and attained 100 percent pass rates in both subjects.
Ms Kumalo said the school offers STEM subjects and empowers pupils through subjects that would be useful to them practically.
“We’re not only focused on academics but we have practical subjects and co-curricular activities that equip pupils with life skills and they’re doing quite well in them. We have pupils that qualified for the national handball team and are set to play in the upcoming tournaments. We also have practical subjects like Food and Nutrition, which is now called Food Technology and Design, Fashion and Fabrics now known as Textiles Technology, Agriculture and Poultry for which 90 percent of the chickens are taken to the dining hall,” said Ms Kumalo.
The school also has a bakery which produces bread for the pupils’ consumption thus cutting onboarding food costs.
The deputy headmaster, Mr Njabulo Mathwasa said the school had completed key projects and purchased a new truck.
“We started constructing a classroom block before the Covid-19 pandemic and it has since been completed. We’re also looking forward to building a girls’ hostel and a cottage for our staff. We’ve included that as one of our projects for next year. Most of all, it’s worth celebrating our new development of purchasing a new truck for the school. The old one was constantly breaking down so this one will surely be useful to the school,” he said.
Mr Mathwasa added that the school is striving for excellence and at the same time pursuing the spiritual aspect to help mould their pupils into better people.
The Brethren-In-Christ Church-run school holds church services on Wednesdays and Sundays.
“We’ve lived up to our motto and on the academic side we’ve always excelled; we did that against all odds. On the righteous side, we have always strived to mould morally upright pupils. We’re privileged to have the church at our disposal as we work hand in glove with the pastor in addressing certain issues that pupils would be facing, in terms of counselling and impacting on the spirituality of our pupils,” said Mr Mathwasa.
He said when pupils leave Wanezi High School, they are equipped with different skills and are ready for life outside school. — @Sagepapie14
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