Beverly Bizeki
Ndarama High School, one of the best day schools in Masvingo and beyond, raised the country’s flag high after its learners scooped three Junior Achievement Africa (JA) Awards in Rwanda recently.
The team of three who exhibited with their company called Mobile Intelligence Technologies at the continental arena walked home with a cash prize of US$1000 after bagging three awards namely the Best Company, Global Possibilities and the Best Application of Project Management Award and will represent Africa at the international competitions in Qatar.
The company’s finance director Tapiwa Chuma said they were thrilled that their company which started its journey early this year was recognized at such a high profile award ceremony having won the provincial and the national competitions.
“The journey of our company began early this year and it began with a survey when we attended a seminar that was hosted by JA Zimbabwe. During the seminar we were taught how to run student led companies after which we got the idea to create MILab which went on to win the provincial competitions as well as the national competitions in Harare.
“In November thereafter we went to represent Zimbabwe at the regional competitions in Kigali Rwanda and we scooped two signature awards, the Global Possibilities Award funded by Fedex and Tablets and the Best Application of Project Management funded by Project Management Institute and the main award that was the company of the year award and we received a cash prize of US$1000 and a ticket to representing Africa Qatar,” said Chuma.
The Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anesu Ruzive said the company was created to break global challenges that children in schools are facing in learning Science particularly accessing laboratories.
“The company comprises of young ambitious learners who have come together and created a company which strives to solve emerging global challenges in the education through cutting edge software that break barriers created by classroom settings. We discovered that local schools and those abroad are struggling to produce a conducive environment for students to carry out Science experiments so we are trying to break socio economic status, disability, location, digital divide, and gender and race barriers.
“To break these barriers we have created an application called Mobile Intelligence Laboratory (MILab) a platform where learners can carry out Science experiments be it Physics, Chemistry or Biology. The application comes with packages such as a GIS laboratory, a 3D driving and aviation simulation and a career guidance section where a learner gets to learn more about the career world,” said Ruzive.
He said the company which is registered, has 32 shareholders and 10 workers, is facing challenges in that all the shareholders are learners and sometimes find it difficult to balance between social life, school work and company work.
“We are giving the company our best shot but because it comprises of students the challenge sometimes becomes that we cannot actually balance between social life, creation and running of this company and also our education so to counter this we are using the template side management of this project and that’s another challenge altogether.
“We look forward to working with the Ministry of Education and schools not individuals hoping that it will be added to the curriculum since it is guided by IGCS and ZIMSEC. So for the further development of the application there is need for sponsorship.
“We are having a challenge as full time learners in marketing and publicizing the application and the company and basically this is the main reason why you find that as a company we have not yet reached a spectrum of selling the application to other schools in rural areas and outside Masvingo,” said Ruzive.
The Production Manager, Panashe Dzinavatonga said the application was meant to ensure inclusivity as it works with 15 languages and can work without internet connection for the benefit of those in remote areas.
“MILab focuses mainly on Science students in the ZIMSEC and IGCS curriculum and it comprises of 15 languages including French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese and English. MILab works as an offline application because we want to ensure inclusivity and accommodate those with network challenges so once it is installed you can use it anywhere,” said Dzinavatonga.
Ndarama School Head Oddy Matongo said the achievement was an honor to the school and urged the business community to support the learners in furthering their aspirations.
“I am more than happy for what my learners have done particularly winning in Rwanda. We are very blessed as an urban community that a government school has also done this that they have conquered Africa and Africa is now at Ndarama representing Masvingo province and the nation at large that is an honor even in my life and in my educational career. We hope as they continue with their journey there are also going to bring the trophy home. I hope all the business community are going to assist my learners so that they can further their aspirations” said Matongo.
