Kuwadzana school defies odds
THE quietude that greeted this news crew as it was ushered into the school by the security detail is almost palpable.
Amid the silence, a booming voice of a teacher delivering an Advanced Level Accounts tutorial suddenly pierces the sky, killing off the serene environment.
It sounds like an unwanted disturbance to the peace and silence that had been prevailing.
The setting is Corpus Christ High School, right at the heart of Kuwadzana 3, where one will ordinarily have expected to find learners in all manner of horse-play, with teachers whiling-up time in the bright sunshine as has notoriously become the norm at various schools.
This does not happen at Corpus Christ High School, which is basking in the glory of a 99 percent pass rate in the recently released 2023 Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) Advanced Level results.
Quite an astonishing return for a day school in the high-density suburb where learners have to grapple with all manner of drawbacks, ranging from limited learning material and the struggle for school fees, among others.
“Such results are not a new or isolated occurrence for us,” says the school’s co-director, Mr Dennis Marowa.
“We have been registering these same results consistently for the past five or so years, maybe what is new is that you guys have taken note.
“Such results, for a school that does not insist on enrolling only the best performers at Grade Seven or Ordinary Level, are not an easy achievement. There is serious work that goes into it, but I must note that much of this work comes with setting up the school and the high standards that we have set ourselves.
“Our school is modelled along the lines of bringing the best available education and learning environment that this country has to offer, to the ghetto or the previously less privileged.
“Our learning delivery is premised on delivering quality education that is synonymous with the best boarding schools because we are of the belief that education is the single biggest tool with which the less privileged can escape their current circumstances.
“We believe that kids aren’t inherently dull, but all they need is a supportive and conducive environment to excel in their studies.
“It is against this background that we insist on the best teaching staff with traceable records to entrust the fortunes of our learners. Once this is in place as is our case and all other supporting variables, kids will excel.”
Indeed, the impressive results are not a rare occurrence as the school recorded 98 percent pass-rate in 2022, 96 percent in 2021, and 95 percent in 2020.
The school is an example of the thrust that Government is pushing — striving to make sure that all learners are exposed to the best possible educational facilities and learning environment as opposed to confining these to boarding schools and those in affluent suburbs alone.
Under the competency-based Education 5.0 model, the Government has tailored the country’s education system to answer the call of local human capital that can solve the country’s human resource needs.
It also seeks to champion the country’s industrialisation strategy and boosting production for economic development towards an empowered upper-middle income economy by 2030.
Against this background, Corpus Christ High School is also excelling in science subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
“Our education system has previously confined science subjects to affluent schools but here we have a fully equipped science laboratory that has seen our learners excelling in science subjects,” said Mr Marowa.
“You must also note that our learners’ passes are not just an over the line pass, these are flying colours. We have students with 20 points. Out of the 89 students we had last year, 29 got 14 points and above which will literally walk them through the doors of any university and study for any relevant degree of their choice.
“Out of those 89, only 18 have less than 10 points and still all these will enrol for degrees of their choices although in some cases they will face competition in programme selection,” he said.