The making of Munashe High Private School
MUNASHE High Private School is located at Mutoko Centre along the Harare- Nyamapanda High, some 170 km from Harare.
The history of the school is one of ragsto-riches. The brains behind the now oasis in the academic desert is none other than a Mathematics teacher by the name Mr Archiford Gwangwadze.
He managed to privately tutor several Ordinary Level candidates with tremendous success before going for the school idea.
As the saying goes, “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”, Mr Gwangwadze took the initiative a gear up after getting some inspiration from Reverend Mutudza, whose wife had successfully been tutored and passed Ordinary Level Mathematics.
“God, I pray for this man to move from teaching under a tree and establish a school,” this was part of the Reverend’s prayer.
And God did not take time to deliver on the aspirations and wishes of the Reverend and the now director of Munashe High Private School.
In 2018, the idea of coming up with a formal school was hatched and in no time Mr Muronzi (Principal), Mr Chapwanya (Deputy Principal), Mr Kawareware, Mr Nyamundaya, Mr Kondo and the late Mr Napwanya set things rolling.
But it was all voluntary.
There was no capital, even to get rented space from which to operate from.
However, when God says “Yes”, no one can say “No”.
Mr Gwangwadze approached a local businesswoman, Mrs K Mazarura and was offered backyard space behind one of her establishments.
That marked the beginning of the great journey. With only one student, teachers taking turns to teach, they hoped for more to come and it happened.
Four months down the line the backyard space became too small.
Fortunately, a bigger space was quickly availed. The first Ordinary Level results including English, Mathematics and Science subjects were passed with flying colours. Naturally, this attracted more students.
Along the way, the school managed to regularise its operations in line with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education requirements. It also has the Examinations status registration with the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec).
The pass rate continued to swell for both Ordinary and Advanced Level.
One of the first Advanced Level intake students, Tinashe Kupeya, had only managed C passes at Ordinary Level. After being rejected at several schools, he enrolled at Munashe High Private School and surprisingly scored 14 points.
The school focuses on students that would have failed their subjects for one reason or the other.
“It is like taking a damaged vehicle, panel beating it, and getting it back on the road,” say the school authorities.
They have managed to transform the lives of several people, particularly those that struggle with Mathematics. To date, Munashe High Private School has embraced the 5.0 Education
Model which is emphasising more on ICT, problem solving approach and pragmatism (hands on approach).
This is a dynamic concept, which is shifting away from the colonial education system that only focused on producing employees rather than employers.
Practical subjects are being prioritised. The idea is to come up with hard working youths. “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo” His Excellency is always saying.
If you cannot do it for yourself, who will do it for you? As the number of students is increasing, more teachers and supporting staff are also being employed.
Mutoko Rural District council has also offered the school some 8,5 hectares of land to expand their operations.
The principal of Munashe High Private school, Mr E T Muronzi also known as Biggerz Wakapiwa or Baba Mutoko reckons the five core fundamental concepts in a successful teaching and learning environment are administration–enforcement of discipline, the teacher (classroom practitioner), parents (supporting the school financially and morally), the learner and supporting Government.
Munashe High Private school’s motto is “Your learning destination of choice growing from ordinary to extraordinary levels”.
Faith Rutsito is a Form Four student at Munashe High Private School.