Beverly Bizeki
Schools from Masvingo district made a big come back from the long Covid-19 induced closure of school competitions after they came out tops in quiz competitions hosted by Helen McGhie on March 24, 2023.
Masvingo district shrugged off competition from six other districts in the Provincial Heritage quiz competitions and were awarded a floating trophy for their efforts.
Helen McGhie Primary School representing Masvingo district won the competition with a whopping 36 points followed by Gutu district represented by Gutu United Primary trailing the winners with two points on 34.
Chivi district represented by Madyangove Primary School came third on 32 points while Marecha Primary School from Bikita came out fourth with 28 points.
Masvingo Provincial Deputy Education Director Micho Hove graced the event together with N Richards Southern region manager Andrew Chekani as well as National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe Director Southern Region Lovemore Mandima.
The competition saw participants answering questions in five categories which included object identification, science and nature, environment and general knowledge.
Hove who was representing the Masvingo Provincial Education Director Shylatte Mhike said the competition resonates well with Heritage studies as a learning area in schools.
“This competition dovetails well in the focus of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education as we have introduced the Heritage Studies learning area.
“As I speak right now, government has provided textbooks on Heritage Studies and for this week it was Mwenezi and Masvingo district which were collecting their books from our head office in Harare,” said Hove.
Mandima said he was impressed with the quality and quantity that has been showcased by the schools.
“All the districts were well represented in terms of quantity and even the quality, we always compare ourselves with other provinces, Masvingo is always atop in terms of quality,” said Mandima.
Chekani urged the school authorities to maintain the standards displayed at the event.
N Richards honored the participants with books and cash prizes which saw participants from number 7 to 5 walking away with US$ 20 each.
Number 4 winners walked away with US$ 25 each, while number 3 winners walked away with US $30 each.
The runner up walked away with cash prizes including US$ 40 each and a trophy for the district from the NMMZ while the winners had US$ 50 each and a shield from the NMMZ.
Each district had three participants.
The heritage quiz competition for primary schools was started in 1993 and was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three years.
The final competition will be held on May 18, 2023 in Bulawayo.
