…first in town to offer Cambridge syllabus at primary level

TellZim reporter

The prominent Junior brand which consist of a driving school, security services company a private high school among others continues to expand with the latest development being the establishment of Junior Primary School which will open doors to learners in January 2023.
The school Director Noah Marima said enrolment is already in progress for learners from Early Childhood Development (ECD) A to grade 5 with prospective parents being advised to visit the school or Junior Complex in town.
“We are looking forward to enrol 200 learners from ECD A to grade 5. We are going to be offering day school facilities when we start while boarding facilities are being put in place,” said Marima.
The school, with state of the art facilities and located in Masvingo’s leafy suburb of Rhodene will be the first school in town to offer Cambridge syllabus at Primary level according to Marima.
He said the idea to offer Cambridge syllabus at primary level was not only inspired by the fact that they have a similar syllabus at Secondary level but by the need to bridge the gap that is in town since no school is offering it at the moment.
“We have realised that there is a gap since there is no single school offering Cambridge at primary level in Masvingo town. Parents who wished to have their kids do Cambridge had to part ways with a lot of money to secure boarding fees elsewhere.That inspired us into taking up the challenge and the decision to offer it at our new school,” said Marima.
He also said the school resolved to cope up with the ever growing demand for French as a language while teacher-pupil ratio is another factor that makes the school a cut above the rest.

“Junior Primary will also make sure the learners are offered French lessons as a second language as a way of preparing them strategically to meet demands of the ever-growing trend in demand for the language internationally.
“We are offering a good teacher-pupil ratio at Junior Primary. Coming to issues of homework, parents of learners at the new school won’t have to scratch their heads because we have mechanisms in place that will ensure it is not a burden to them, though homework will be given to learners,” added Marima.
On part of co-curricular activities, Marima said the school intends to make sure all learners get the much-needed exposure to elite sports.
“We are going to offer modern sporting activities apart from the traditionally-played games, sporting disciplines like cricket, tennis, swimming, basketball to mention but a few,” Marima said.
He also said the school will have a school bus on offer to take learners to and from school though he stressed the arrangement is optional as parents can use own means to get their children to school.
The school is located adjacent to Junior High School along Lundi Drive in Rhodene.

Lydia Koto

Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) Herbert Chitepo Law school team flew the Masvingo-based tertiary institution’s flag higher when they fared well at the recently held Inter-varsity debate competitions on November 5 in Harare.
The duo of Tariro Chimusoro and Vuyani Chikasha walked away with gold medals, participating certificates and a trophy after coming out victorious at the competitions held at Arrupe University in Harare under the theme “Technology in the higher institution of learning”.
Chimusoro who emerged as the best speaker said she was happy to represent the Great Zimbabwe University and they had a wonderful experience through learning and socializing.
“We are glad to have represented the university well. It was a wonderful experience of learning and socializing,” said Chimusoro.
Chimusoro was grateful with the university’s support and said she hopes the university will continue to support them.
“We are also grateful for the support we got from those who accompanied us. We look forward to more support from the school moving forward,” she added.
GZU was among the 6 teams which were competing at the event.
Some institutes which competed include Arrupe Jesuit University, Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU), Harare polytechnic, Belvedere Teachers College, Chishawasha Seminary and Morgan ZINTEC Teachers Training institute.
Each team had to have two teams made up of two participants.
The other GZU team had Dylan Vudzi and Royce Malethe.
Chimusoro and Chikasha made it to the final as the third best team to qualify in the final round.
The victorious duo fought hard to oppose the notion that “The use of technology in higher learning institution produces graduates with less skill to offer in the industry.
Enroute to the crowning, GZU brushed away the competition of two Arrupe University teams.

Yeukai Munetsi

Zhombe – Police are appealing for assistance from the public to identify a dead body of a man (name unknown) who was killed while stealing.
The incident occurred at Zhombe Shopping Centre, Kwekwe on October 29, 2022 at around 0100 hours.
Midlands Provincial Police Spokesperson Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident and is appealing to relatives missing their loved one to come forward and engage the police.
“Members of the public missing a relative may approach Zhombe police or any nearest police station. The body is being held at Kwekwe General Hospital Mortuary.
“The deceased had no particulars on his person making the identification of the body very difficult. Members of the public must appreciate that it is always important to have identification particulars at all times and where possible have a trusted person know your movements,” Mahoko said.
According to a police report, the now deceased (a man who is around 33 years old) was found stealing groceries at a shop.
He was assaulted several times all over the body with unknown objects and sustained severe injuries.
Meanwhile police attended the scene and found deceased’s body on the ground.
The deceased was putting on a pair of blue work-suit trousers with a black belt, blue jacket with a zip and a blue T-shirt.

Tinaani Nyabereka

Gweru- businesswoman aged 43 reportedly died on November 7 under unclear circumstances in her car while parking at a police base in Gweru.
The incident occurred at Monomutapa Police Station in Mtapa suburb.
Information obtained by this publication revealed that on Monday morning the deceased person Sheila Shoshore of Mkoba 13 who was involved in transport business with two kombis and a taxi that operates in Senga and Mkoba died from causes yet to be known.
It is reported that Soshore parted ways with her daughter Hazel Mawere (19) at TM taxi rank in Gweru city centre at around 5 pm on Sunday as her daughter proceeded to Midlands State University.
On Sunday evening, Shoshore proceeded to ZRP Mtapa where she used to park her motor vehicle before going to her place of residence.
The following day on November 7, the deceased went to Monomutapa Police Station where she entered the main gate and told a police officer at the manning the gate that she was taking out her car.
The night of the same day around 8.45 am, police officers who were from a routine operation reportedly observed a white Honda fit parked at the parking space.
One of the police officers observed the now deceased occupying the driver’s seat with her head tilted towards the steering, lying lifeless.
The officer-in-charge at the police station was advised and an ambulance was called.
The body of the deceased was then conveyed to Gweru Provincial Hospital mortuary pending investigations.

TellZim reporter

MINISTER of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe has challenged heads of department and senior management staff in the ministry to prioritize efficient service delivery towards the general citizenry if ever the National Development Strategy 1 is to bear meaningful fruit.
Addressing staff at Clevers Hotel in Masvingo during the official launch of the ministry’s Enterprise Risk Management Policy, Kazembe outlined the need for value addition on everything the ministry offers if ever development was to be realized by ordinary people.
“In whatever we are doing as a ministry, let us ensure there is value addition and that will lead us to efficiency. This ministry is critical and central and thus the need to focus more on improved service provision as part of our mandate. Basically, how best can we achieve that? By adding value to the services we offer the population.
“Let us put our hands on the deck and ensure the successful implementation of this key management tool for the realization of the ministry’s mandate. Let’s improve the service and desist from dwelling on what does not matter most bearing in mind that whatever we do as departments should impact positively on the generality of Zimbabweans.
“How can people realize meaningful results if we work towards unrealistic targets and goals in the way we operate? Let us work with scientific information and move away from only using historically available information,” said Kazembe.
One of the participants however lamented what he termed ‘fail and proceed’ syndrome in line departments and the need to do away with such mentality.
“So far what I have realized is that we are having more of these ‘fail and proceed’ scenarios in our departments. We have a lot of challenges being mentioned during these reviews, but so far no meaningful solution has been offered and all we have done is ‘go ahead’.
“We have maintained this ‘fail and proceed’ over the past years and we are now nearing 2025 which is the last year of the NDS 1 but without any meaningful achievement. Review workshops are supposed to be having us introspect and unpack the challenges that we have, find common ground and possible solutions so that we score more,” said the participant.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Aaron Nhepera also weighed in saying risk management is not optional but rather a requirement for the ministry.
“It is critical to note that risk management is not optional but a requirement in terms of the law specifically the Public Finance Management Act Chapter 22 section 19 and Public Finance Management General Regulations Statutory Instrument 135 of 2019 provides that all ministries should adopt a concept of risk management.
“Therefore, this policy is not only in compliance with the above pieces of legislation but also ISO 3100 which is the anchor guideline as enshrined in the Zimbabwean Risk Management Policy guidelines for the public sector,” said Nhepera.

Yeukai Munetsi

Gweru City Council had raised concern over low youth, women and People with Disabilities (PWDs) turn out at budget consultations.
At least ten youth and four women attended the budget consultation meeting hosted by council, with only a few representing people with disabilities.
Speaking at the event GCC ward 15 councillor Trust Chinene expressed concern over the low turnout by vulnerable groups saying that it defeated the whole purpose of consultations.
“I am worried with this small number present at this juncture considering that this meeting is very important in addressing key issues that are affecting youth, women and PWDs with regards to budget.
“It is very sad to note that the same vulnerable groups that make noise on social media are not taking budget consultations seriously,” he said.
Gweru Council Public Relations Officer Vimbai Chingwaramusee concurred with Chinene saying the low turnout was a disappointment.
“As local authority, we are very disappointed by the low turnout of youth, people with disabilities and women. We thought that giving them space was important to let them air their views as we always see them on social media complaining.
“Participating in these budget consultations was going to ensure that their needs are addressed and council provide quality services. As council we are heart-broken as we thought the 2023 budget was going to address their concerns through participation,” she said.
She further encouraged youth, women and PWDs to attend such meetings whenever they are called for.
A youth, Kuchineyi Lewis said the politicised system is to be blamed for low turnout as it automatically discourages people from playing their part.
“What’s in it for the youth to participate? Should they come simply because council says come or there should be some form of investment that motivates youth, women and the general populace to participate?
“We are where we are in non-participation because of the conscious effort and investment of politicians bent on exclusion and partisan politics. Let’s not take the input of our patriarchs for granted in creating such a situation that best serve their selfish political ambitions.
“As such, instead of castigating the youth for a no show, research and investment should be on ways of fostering comprehensive participation,” he said.
Gweru City council is engaging various stakeholders as it seek to come up with a ZW$ 46 billion budget.