Brighton Chiseva
MASVINGO – The Zion Christian Church led by Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi’s Mutendi Primary School was presented with the 2019 secretary’s Merit Award at a colorful ceremony held at the school on Feb 02 2023 for its outstanding performances in different categories to the satisfaction of the ministry adjudicators.
The award was supposed to have been presented in 2020 but could not due to the Covid 19 induced lockdowns which affected all facets of life.
Presenting the accolade, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) said the school had worked hard to deserve such recognition and urged the school to maintain or do more and never to slide down from the pace it set for itself.
She said the school worked hard to fulfil government requirements, which is one of the most critical issues that the ministry looks at before awarding the secretary’s bell.
“The Secretary’s Merit Award is a quality control and supervisory tool that recognizes schools of excellence as models that others can emulate. Through this award, we recognize achievements by pupils, teachers, parents and school administrators,” said Thabela.
Thabela took the opportunity to share the ministry innovations and policy guidelines that include Foundation Learning which is aimed at strengthening foundation literacy and numeracy where infant stage learners who cannot read will not qualify for the next level.
She also talked of Zimbabwe Early learning Assessment, Mobile Science Laboratories, Curriculum review and Green and Blue schools where schools put in place mitigatory measures against effects of climate change.
The school head Geofry Muchokoti said the award came as a result of collaborative work between the school, parents as well as a supportive responsible authority which supports the school in all aspects.
“We worked hard to get this accolade; there was a unity of purpose between staff, pupils, parents and our supportive responsible authority. We have state of the art boarding village, good and educative signage at the school and this all contributed to this achievement.
He said the school was running a number of agricultural projects which has the school producing most of the food to feed the boarders from their produce.
The award comes with the Head’s Tablet and certificate of excellence, 40 tablets for pupils, projector, electronic interactive board, teacher’s laptop and a plaque in lieu of the Secretary’s Merit Award
Masvingo North MP and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Davies Marapira promised the school a fish pond.
Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZIMFEP) gifted the school with 100 day old roadrunner chicks while former student Brian Mudumi donated three laptops for teachers, and 10 tablets for learners.
He also pledged to pay fees for five talented but underprivileged learners from each grade as well as facilitate the learning of Chinese language at the school.
