The Sunday News
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Bureau
Mosi-oa-Tunya High School in Victoria Falls is a champion school after fully embracing the competence based curriculum (CBC).
Government has honoured the Victoria Falls City Council run school with the Secretary’s Merit Award for 2017 and $1,3 million cash prize whose sole purpose is to buy ICT gadgets for the smart classroom concept.
Primary and Secondary Education Permanent Secretary Mrs Tumisang Thabela presented the award at a ceremony jointly held by the two recently. A plaque was unveiled at the school’s administration block as a remembrance for the honour and also got certificate of appreciation from Government.
In the past merit Award winners would get a symbolic bell but Mrs Thabela said this had been overtaken by technology as schools now use sirens. The school made a seamless transition to the new curriculum framework becoming the best all-rounder implementor in 2017. Mosi-oa-Tunya recognition is in respect of academic and non-academic activities.
The school runs various projects such as poultry and livestock, fish production, cookery, gardening, uniform making, sports, music, environment management, school governance and leadership and development of child-centred infrastructure to develop learners into a full person and contributing to the local economy.
The school first opened its doors in 1982 as an upper top at Chamabondo Primary School with a handful of learners. The enrolment has been increasing steadily over the years, at some point becoming a mega school with about 1 800 learners.
The closure of tourism industry as a result of Covid-19 greatly affected the school as it impacted on the community and some parents relocated, causing enrolment to drop from 1 700 in January 2020 to the current 1 140.
Mosi-oa-Tunya is naturally a gender sensitive institution empowering the girl child as evidenced by enrolment and staff complement.
There are 545 boys and 595 girls while of the 64 teachers, only 17 are males and 47 are females. Thirty-eight of the teachers are degreed with three of them holding Masters, and the rest are teaching diploma holders. About 60 percent of lower sixes are doing sciences and the school’s Advanced Level enrolment has been inclined towards sciences more than arts and commercial subjects which was not previously the case.
Mosi-oa-Tunya introduced sciences in 2014. The School Development Committee employs about 16 staff five of them teachers and 11 supporting staff. The school’s pass rate has risen steadily from 12.3 percent in 2014 to 30.1 percent in 2019 although it fell to 21.9 in 2020 for Ordinary level. For Advanced Level, pass rate has been fluctuating between 75 percent and 88 percent between 2014 and last year. It was 75.86 percent in 2014 and rose to 88.6 percent in 2019 and last year was 80.1 percent.
The school headmaster Mr Roland Sibanda, popularly known simply as R Sibanda, said Mosi-oa-Tunya offers a wide range of academic and practical subjects in line with the updated skills based curriculum, these learning areas include physical education, mass displays, musical arts, food technology and design, textile technology and design, sports science, food science, wood design and technology, technical graphics and technology, agriculture, animal science, computer science and many other activities.
He said the school’s approach is to nurture a wholesome citizen who will leave the school with life skills and through diligence, hard work, teamwork and dedication, a milestone has been achieved. He was speaking at the Secretary Merit Awards ceremony where he also received an honour as a Champion Head for leading by example. The honour, symbolised excellence and dedication to duty by parents, teachers, the Ministry and community at large, said Mr Sibanda as he paid gratitude to all stakeholders who have helped the school.
“In doing this the school has adopted education 5.0 approach initiated by Government which aims to teach, research, community serve, innovate and industrialise. As a school this approach has seen us producing a wholesome individual who is marketable locally and internationally,” he said.
Besides Hexco, the school is also working with Tegram to offer leaner driving lessons as well as Traffic Safety Council to offer defensive driving lessons to the community of Victoria Falls including pupils. The school symbolises the concept of inclusive education and enrolls children with disabilities despite absence of a special needs class.
Guidance and counselling department includes first aid and life skills clubs, girls and boys empowerment movements, orphans and vulnerable children welfare and child headed families support groups.
The welfare programmes are sustained by social wellbeing partners such as Basic Education Assistance Module, Higherlife Foundation, war veterans association, rotary clubs, Mhambi Trust, Rose of Charity, Marvelous Nakamba Foundation, Wild Horizons, Jafuta Foundation, Barbara Murasiranwa who is sponsoring over 400 learners in Matabeleland North and Bulawayo, Love for Africa and telecoms companies that have ensured there is internet connection at the school.
This has helped in delivering education during Covid-19 online using WhatsApp platform.
There is non-formal or part-time continuous education for those who failed to make it in formal education to better the lives.
The programme has been a success and SDC chairperson Mr Christopher Mufakwadzi is a product of it. He did his O Level and A Level through non-formal education and is now doing Master’s Degree at Lupane State University. Adult education also offers tour guiding and learner professional hunters, horticulture, food and nutrition, beverages, garment making products and driving lessons, equipping the community with literacy skills.
The school has built an innovation hub which will be officially opened soon.
“I am pleased to inform you that Mosi-oa-Tunya boasts of being the only school in the province offering the best and consistent part-time continuous education in both June and November education examinations. We are active is sports and have an athletics club that has produced some of the finest athletes in the country like Dickson
Kapandura who is studying in the United States on a sports scholarship,” said Mr Sibanda.
Hwange West legislator Godfrey Dube, Victoria Falls City mayor councillor Somveli Dlamini, Pan African poet Obert
Dube are among renowned products of the institution and Dube the poet, recited a moving poem at the Merit Awards ceremony.
The school has over the years exhibited at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair to showcase products made by science department and won a bronze medal in 2018.
The quiz team was first runner-up for three consecutive years at the National Aids Council national competition.
Mosi-oa-Tunya has one of the best schools’ choirs in the country and they have sung at national and international events like the United Nations World Tourism Organisation and Sadc summit.
The choir’s famous song “Ngo1940” leaves people serenaded each time it is sung and Mrs Thabela said she gets overwhelmed by requests for the choir to sing at international events hosted locally. Mr Sibanda said the school is offering everything in the curriculum with over 10 practical subjects.
“We have several success stories especially in non-formal learning and we are among the top schools in the province.
We don’t turn away pupils, siyakupheka uphume uvuthiwe. I am proud to have a supportive community and authority,” said Mr Sibanda.
The school has hosted sporting events because of professional standard sporting facilities. There are however challenges such as non-payment of school fees with only nine percent paid in full this year, shortage of new curriculum learning material, water, Covid-19 and departure of teachers for greener pastures. Government came up with the CBC framework following a commission of inquiry on the state of education in 1999 and the recommendation was to have a new curriculum.
Mrs Thabela said Mosi-oa-Tunya has offered a curriculum that’s true to CBC and meant to equip learners with 21st century skills and exit profiles. She said there was a directive from Cabinet that all schools should embark on income generating ventures where they put theory into practice and create employment in line with national Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
“Such projects should cover costs not covered by fees and what we learnt during covid-19 was that only schools that had income generating projects remained functional. We are proud of the developments this school has done. I am impressed by refurbishment of school administration, state-of-the-art laboratory, landscaping, paving, repainting, the establishment of a cultural centre, upgrading of school water system for learners, physical education, and mass display arena.
“The school recorded an improvement in academic performance despite Covid-19 showing that education is not just sitting in a classroom. I want you to jealously guard the standards you have set for yourself and let’s continue supporting the school,” said Mrs Thabela.
She said the environment in which a child learns affects how the child performs hence the need for a conducive infrastructure.
