Rutendo Chirume
Shylatte Mhike is one of the three women who hold a position of higher authority in government in Masvingo province.
Hailing all the way from Manicaland province in Chimanimani district, at 55 years she is the Acting Provincial Education Director (PED), a position she landed in 2020 from her then boss Zedius Chitiga following his retirement.
Mhike attended her junior education at Mutambara Primary School before her secondary education at Lydia Chimonyo between 1973- 1984.
In 1985, she moved to Bulawayo where she pursued her studies at Hillside Teachers College as a trainee teacher for Diploma in Secondary Teaching specializing in Geography and English which she completed in 1988.
Immediately after she graduated she was deployed to Masvingo’s Zaka District in 1990 where she taught for the next decade.
During an interview with TellZim News, she revealed that she managed to acquire her Advanced level certificate while trying to balance between teaching and studying. She then sat for geography and sociology through distance learning and scored 10 points.
In 1997, she enrolled for a Bachelor of Education in Geography degree at the University of Zimbabwe and was awarded the book price for being the overall best student for 1998 academic year and finished her Masters of Education degree in Curriculum Studies at Great Zimbabwe University in 2003.
She continued with her teaching career. In 2002 while teaching at Zaka High School, she got promoted to the post of school head at Chinyaradza Secondary School where she worked for years until she was elevated to Zaka District Education Officer (DEO) in 2007 and worked there for three years up to the time when she was moved to be Provincial Schools Inspector (PSI) for Geography between 2010-2014.
The next three years saw her being moved from one district to another in Midlands province as DEO and PSI till 2017 when she got transferred back to Masvingo province to assume the post of deputy director.
When asked about plans to further her education, Mhike said she has been caught up between her private life and the job which requires more attention thereby hindering education progression, but however said the sky should be the limit for women who have time and opportunities to further their studies.
“When I was young, I loved reading and had planned to have a Doctorate and even be a university professor by the time I get to this age, but through family responsibilities and the job I have now it is difficult to spare a little time to further my education but for women who have time to study the sky is the limit and they should not do that only for self-actualization, but also as way to climb the corporate ladder to bridge the gap between men and few women who are in the industrial sector especially those with higher positions,’’ said Mhike.
