The Sunday News
Limpret Moyo, Sunday News Reporter
PRESTIGE High School in Bulawayo on Friday held its first speech and prize-giving ceremony to celebrate the achievements of pupils who excelled in academics and extra-curriculum activities.
The guest of honour at the event was the chairman of Alpha Media Holdings, Mr Trevor Ncube, who encouraged pupils to never give up on their dreams and things they are passionate about, as their purpose is located in their dreams and passions.
The headmaster, Mr Innocent Masina, said the school felt honoured as this was its first speech and prize-giving ceremony since the school was established in 2015.
“I am grateful you came to celebrate with us this grand occasion which marks the first speech and prize-giving function in the history of this two-year-old school. We congratulate the winners and all those who worked tirelessly for the success of these learners and the success of this special ceremony.
Our students have strived to do their best in order to be part of this ceremony and surely that represents the true spirit of our school. I am very much impressed with the achievements of everyone here today.
“The prize-winners are a true reflection of everything that we stand for here at Prestige High School. It is through such achievements that we are able to see the skills, high expectation and commitment of the teachers, parents, community and students at this school. These prize-winners are great examples of our values and set goals as enshrined in the updated new curriculum,” he said.
Mr Masina said the school was still developing and it has an enrolment of 188 pupils, 16 qualified teachers and seven student teachers.
“With such ammunition, we feel we are prepared to fire with all cylinders in propelling this new institution to greater heights. The deployment of student teachers into our system speaks volumes on its own. The school had its first national examinations last year in November and I am pleased to announce that we acquitted ourselves well. We started well and we posted fairly good results considering the fact that we had just started. The O-level class scored above the national average of 40 percent and the A-level scored 80 percent also an average percentage that is above the national average.
As I speak, some of our first fruits students have been enrolled to tertiary institutions such as the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) and the United College of Education (UCE),” he said.
Mr Masina added that the school offers sporting activities as per the ministry’s requirements. He said this year in athletics they managed to progress up to national level. In debate, one of the pupils was invited and joined the team that visited President Mugabe on the eve of the Independence celebrations.
“The debate club is scheduled to fly to Uganda to represent the nation in debate competitions,” said Mr Masina.
He said the school has embraced the new curriculum as per Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education requirements.
