Bright Zhou
The sky is the limit for a Mushandike High School female learner who defied the odds as a learner in rural areas and as a girl child by attaining 20 points in the ZIMSEC 2023 examinations.
For 18-year-old Kirsty Mupfukirei who got straight As in Literature in English, History, Sociology as well as Family and Religious Studies, her desire to pursue a law degree so that she can fulfill her lifelong dream of advocating for women and girls’ rights someday pushed her.
“The inspiration behind me doing the combination I did at A’ Level is the love for law and justice. I always wanted to advocate for women and girls out there and to achieve that I had to study those subjects and score maximum points,” said Mupfukirei.
For Mupfukirei, her passion for studying law is so strong that she turned down the opportunity to be in the Science class with all the qualifications required so that she could prepare for her career of choice.
“I did Sciences at O’ Level and I passed science subjects with a chance to do Mathematics, Biology, and Chemistry but I really wanted to do law so I chose Arts,” she said.
Mupfukirei said it took a lot of sacrifice and determination for her to achieve the results with motivation coming from her brother who also got 20 points at A’ Level.
“It took a lot of sacrifice and determination along with support and motivation from the environment that was surrounding me. By sacrifice, I mean having to know you cannot spend most of your time playing and focusing on things that did not matter and I was determined to make my mom, dad, aunt, and teachers proud. Lastly, my brother also attained 20 points so he was my role model,” she said.
She said she sees herself as a renowned and influential advocate in the next ten years with fears however that the current economy might pose obstacles in her path as she might not be able to go to her school of choice as tertiary education is quite expensive.
“In the next ten years, I see myself as a renowned and influential advocate for women’s rights as well as justice in general.
“However, the challenge lies in that tertiary education is very expensive and your choice of schools is limited by what your parents can afford which needs no explanation given the current economic predicaments of the Zimbabwean civil workers.
“Additionally, limited access to the internet reduces the amount of information available and the means to apply for opportunities,” said Mupfukirei.
To the younger girls who might be disadvantaged or attending school in the rural areas, Mupfukirei said they should not be deterred by the current conditions but rather be motivated to achieve more and fight for a better future.
“It does not matter which school one is studying at, what matters is the determination that one has. My advice for the young girls is to set goals and work towards achieving them and more importantly they should remember that they are as good as their male counterparts.
“Learning in remote areas should be their advantage rather than a disadvantage, those things that they lack because they are in rural areas should be their strength and motivation so they must fight for a better future and perhaps be pillars of those they are leaving behind,” she added.
As a learner in the peri-urban areas, Mupfukirei said she faced challenges with lack of resources with reading material difficult to get. She added that poor network connection in rural areas made it difficult to access online platforms which are also expensive.
