 |
| Construction of school facilities has started |
…Shirley Makausi back
from retirement to lead new school
…pupils to have driver’s
licences by time of leaving school
Moses
Ziyambi
A new privately-owned
secondary school is being built in Rhodene suburb to help satisfy the expanding
need for quality educational facilities in Masvingo province and beyond,
TellZim can report.
Junior High School is
being built on a 5 hectare piece of prime land on the northernmost part of the
city close to the road to Harare.
The school, which
promises to offer some of the best learning facilities in the whole southern
region of the country, joins the prominent Junior Enterprises portfolio which includes
a driving school and a microfinance institution.
Besides its association
with the strong Junior brand, Junior High has another ace up its sleeve in the
name Shirley Makausi who will be the inaugural school head.
Makausi is capable
leader who transformed Ndarama Government High from just another public school
to a school of choice.
When she left Ndarama
in 2019 upon retirement, Makausi had created an impressive legacy that many would
wish to emulate, but which very few or non are able to match.
Her decision to lend
her reputable name to the Junior High project and, in the process, take on
bigger challenges, gives weight to the school’s stated aim of providing quality
education under the best facilities and conditions, but at a very affordable
cost.
In an interview with
TellZim News, Junior Enterprises director Noah Marima said he was excited by the
opportunity to once again connect with the community through educational
provisions.
“We have been here for
years and people have come to trust our brand. What better way is there to give
back to that community than invest in its education? We can only achieve the
growth that we hope to achieve if access to quality education opportunities is
widened. We are therefore building Junior High School to contribute to
that objective,” said Marima.
The school will be a
sterling combination of academics and extra-curricular activities, with massive
investment being directed to the construction of quality classroom blocks,
science labs and sporting facilities.
The school is
sandwiched by a bald mountain to its north – giving it a recreational aura – and
by the outer edges of the leafy Rhodene suburb to its southern end, elevating
it to a quiet and convivial place for learning.
In an interview with
TellZim, Makausi said she was humbled by yet another opportunity to serve in
the education sector.
‘I accept the offer to
serve with humility and I will do my best. It’s both an opportunity and a
challenge, but I am ready to expend all my remaining energies and expertise to
make Junior High School the success that it ought to be. Parents and all
stakeholders need to see that we are back to serve; to help nurture their
children to greatness, and Junior Secondary School will be the place where that
will happen,” said Makausi.
She said she was
humbled to be identified as the most suitable school head among many other
potential candidates.
“As I settled in
retirement, I had thought my time was up and was a bit taken aback when this
opportunity was availed to me. I thank God that the Junior brand saw in me the
capability that I myself probably could no longer see and this indeed is a
challenge to me. With God on our side, we will build this project and make it a
great success,” said Makausi.
The school is expected
to enroll its pioneering classes in January 2022, with all pupils having a
chance to attain driver’s licences from Junior Driving School by the time they
complete their ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels.
