The Sunday Mail
In a move that had the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education running out of superlatives, Mazowe Boys High School recently unveiled a state-of-the-art school bus, a semi-detached staff house and a utility vehicle to be used by the school headmaster.
Speaking at the occasion, the District Education Officer for Mazowe, Ms Christine Mudiwa, representing the parent Ministry, applauded the co-operation between parents, the school development committee and the school in purchasing the vehicles and construction of the house.
“Only recently, the Minister was saying he was tired of conflicts in some schools between headmasters and SDCs. These developments show that the school development committee here, parents and the school’s leadership are working as a team.
“I hope the bus will inspire students as they travel for various sporting, cultural and academic functions,” Ms Mudiwa said.
Mazowe Boys High, in the November examinations recorded a 96,8 percent pass rate at Advanced Level and 88 percent pass rate for Ordinary Levels. The national pass rate for A-Level was 87,6 percent and for O-Level was 27,76 percent pass rate, which is a 5,48 percent increment from the previous year. Speaking at the same ceremony, Commissioner Henry Nyagah, who is the Salvation Army’s territorial commander, said Mazowe Boys High has always been a shining beacon in the country’s education landscape and the bus, vehicle and staff house, will go a long way in cementing the school’s reputation.
The school is run by the Salvation Army.
Mr Elvas Mari, the chairman of the School Development Committee said the acquisition of the bus and motor vehicle for the headmaster, as well as the construction of the semi-detached house, all fall into the school’s five-year strategic plan.
“Last year we completed the construction of the school’s swimming pool, the pavilion and computer lab. This year we have done these projects and in the coming year we have a number of projects planned, of which the re-tiling of classrooms has already begun.
“So far we have re-tiled four Form 1 classrooms and we hope to tile them in phases,” explained Mr Mari.
With an enrolment of 728 boys, a teaching staff compliment of 33 and 32 non-teaching staff, the school’s headmaster, Mr Thompson Katanda, added that besides the re-tiling of classrooms, the school was also looking at replacing all the classroom furniture, to give a modern-school environment, as well as the refurbishment of teachers’ houses.
“We still have a long way to go and for us to achieve our goals we need the co-operation of our parents, because if they meet their obligations timeously, that would give the school room to plan, budget and implement our projects.
“So far we are happy with the working relationship that we have with our parents,” said Mr Katanda.
The bus was acquired for about $150 000, which was almost half the initial cost price, as the school applied for – and was granted – duty-free import of the bus. The utility vehicle was bought for $47 000 whilst the house was built, in part, with donations from the Gaming Board, which matched dollar-for-dollar the money raised by the school.
The school had raised $41 000 for the completion of the house.
