Rural girl achiever attains 14 points
A RURAL high school in Matobo District, Whitewater has made history by producing the first female to attain 14 points in Science subjects at A-level.
While 14 points in Science subjects at A-level is no longer a big achievement for some boarding and urban schools who are producing more than one candidate with 15 points and above, the school is celebrating this as a big achievement since it is a first at the institution.
Sunday News caught up with the candidate, Moeti Makwaiba who got As in Crops Science and Geography and a B in Biology in the 2019 Zimsec A-level examinations.
“Yes, I did well and I got 14 points in the three subjects that I was doing. I am very happy about this because it’s not about my school only but my background. My mother used to struggle to raise school fees but she persevered and here I am today. I have not yet made up my mind on what to study but definitely I want to proceed to university. I am just worried my mother will not afford the fees and I hope I can get a scholarship,” she said.
Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education and former headmaster at the school, Cde Edgar Moyo, who is also the local Member of Parliament said Makwaiba’s achievement was a sign that the Government was making inroads in ensuring that everyone has access to quality education.
“This shows that some of our rural schools are starting to do well in Sciences and it has to do with the Government policy of ensuring that it delivers quality education to everyone. The future is in engineering and robotics. Schools should create a good environment for the children to do Sciences. This will help us have students fitting into universities such as National University of Science and Technology,” he said.
Cde Moyo encouraged rural schools to start working with Science related organisations to boost their pass rates.
“Last week, I was addressing school heads from Matobo and I encouraged them to work closely with organisations such as Matobo Research Station and Icrisat that will help children improve their skills and knowledge on Animal and Crop Science,” he said.
Cde Moyo said the country was facing food shortages and there was a need to have innovative children who will come up with solutions to mitigate the drought. Despite Whitewater facing a deficit of resources such as furniture and learning materials, it has managed to produce pupils who are competing with those from established and resourced schools. Some of the pupils attending the school travel about 14 kilometres to and from the school.