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MRS Charlotte Kundiona has always had an irresistible urge to help underprivileged girls. Her strong belief that “everyone deserves a second chance” pushed her to co-found an educational institution – Delmonds Academy. The college is designed to improve the lot of young women. But is also caters for boys as well.
In 14 years, the school has now grown into a fully-fledged private secondary school.
At the core of her activities is the belief that a sound education is the foundation of future successful entrepreneurs.
Plans are also underway to expand into a tertiary education as efforts to alleviate the shortage of professional training colleges in Bindura.
The tertiary institution is expected to begin operations in 2017.
Our Business Reporter Enacy Mapakame travelled to Mrs Kundiona’s base in Bindura to talk about her efforts, particularly how she balances the seemingly competing models of running a profitable business and accommodating underprivileged students.
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Q: How did the idea of forming a college come about?
A: Delmonds Academy opened its doors in 2002, with an enrolment of just Form 3 and Form 4 students.
We did not have Forms One and 2 places, or any Advanced Level classes. Mainly, we had repeaters who needed a second chance, especially young girls who got into early marriages. We realised that in public schools they are ridiculed by their peers and decided to give them another chance in a conducive environment where they even get counselling.
I believe everyone deserves a second chance especially with regards to education. In 2011, the academy expanded to include all classes from Form 1 to 6, and we are now looking at expanding into tertiary education.
Q: How did you expand?
A: There are high chances our former students and their parents will recommend us to peers on the availability of skilled teachers who work tirelessly to ensure every student realises their full potential. Right now, we have an enrolment of 173 pupils from Form 1 to 6.
We have started enrolling for Form 5 classes and we are hoping to have a bigger number by next week (this week) because they are still coming. In addition to that, we have an average 86 percent pass rate for Advanced level.
Q: What happens at your institution when students fail, when lecturers fail to get the best out of students?
A: Our contracts here are performance-based and this is good motivation for teachers to produce positive results. When we asses students’ performance and realise they are not doing well, we take them for counselling because they may be traumatised by something else outside the school. This will help us see where the real problem is and how to help them.
We also do career guidance and it has proven helpful for our students.
- Why did you choose to invest in education and not other sectors? And as a woman in business, what is it that you believe in that others oppose you for?
A: As a guiding principle, I believe that greater education imparts greater responsibility.
And as a beneficiary of the Government education policy, I think it is high time I plough back into the community by continuously offering affordable education to the community.
As a woman, I encourage other women to strive to work hard, the sky is the limit. I am of the view that everyone deserves another chance; I also oppose the notion that boys do better in school, they are all the same.
But society believed this because girls were not given equal opportunities as their male counterparts, something that is still widespread and needs to change.
Q: So, do you see more potential in people than they do in themselves?
A: As a mother, I believe in giving the young generation learning opportunities because they are the future leaders. I believe they have potential to do great in this country, to produce something that our generation could not.
They have potential to raise the Zimbabwean flag high and this begins now through education.
They will be an empowered generation. Now we are hoping to diversify into tertiary education, an area Bindura is lagging behind.
On an ideological level, I believe we are challenging the system or should I say state of affairs in which citizens are heavily reliant on Government. Education creates responsible and accountable actors who respond to societal needs, a development which creates an equally and mutually beneficial relationship between the Government and its people, as opposed to a situation where state bears the responsibility of providing for an unempowered citizenry.
At an institutional level, I do not like to view it as if we are competing against anyone. Rather we seek to compliment Government’s efforts in providing affordable and quality education to the nation.
Q: In what way does your institution redefine the quality of education in favour of the student, particularly in view of the new curriculum from the Ministry of Education which emphasises more on practical learning experience?
A: Like I said earlier, we have a commendable pass rate for Advanced level and part of our curricular emphasises on career guidance.
People follow wrong career paths in life because they lacked guidance. Some just follow the masses. We believe in moulding the future right from an early stage, we have been doing that and we have seen results with our former students. As for the new curricular, it is a noble idea if properly implemented.
Some pupils are gifted in academics while others do well in practicals.
Q: Since the college started operations, what have you done that proves the institution is ethical and honest? I mean, we have seen many fly-by night colleges that are in it only for the money and have failed to provide students with their examination results.
A: We have been in the industry for the past decade and to show we are honest and we mean serious business, we are developing our own premises. The school is almost complete now and we should move anytime from now…
This is to show we are serious in what we are doing. We value education because it is the foundation to success.
As for the tertiary institution, we have Bindura University but there is still a huge gap that we want fill in this area, people here travel to Harare to colleges for something that can be done here.
We are moving to the new school anytime from now and we are hoping the tertiary institution will operate from the rented premises at the show grounds.
There are a lot of activities that happen at the show-grounds that may disturb pupils’ attention, but when we move to own premises we expect even performance to greatly improve.
In addition to that, we are accredited with the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC). Our teachers are our biggest assets who shape the future of these school kids. As such, we want to keep enhancing teachers to keep up with the quality of education in line with national standards or even global trends.
Q: If you could go back in time five years, what decision would you make differently?
A: I would like to take myself beyond five years back. Procrastinating to take up this project is my biggest regret. I think we should have done this earlier.
Online Reporter