MASSIVE investment in education has resulted in Old Windsor Primary School making history after they produced quality Grade 7 results.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
The school, which is located in Ruwa, Mashonaland East province, had 25 pupils who scored four units with girls dominating at 18. A total of 24 pupils, including 14 girls, scored five units.
Six pupils scored six units, with the lowest pupil attaining 19 units. The Grade 7 class had a total of 95 pupils. NewsDay Weekender visited the school where the school administrator, Edward Hsin-Ko Tsai, attributed the success to the hard work of the teachers and the massive investment made into the school
“We are very happy to achieve this. This is a result of how we work together as a team at this school. The teachers worked hard for us to attain such amazing results. We are indeed improving each year. Our pass rate as far as achieving the four units results has increased by 23% as compared to last year,” he said.
“Last year we had 15 pupils with four units and this year we almost doubled that number. We are happy about that. We keep going up. Last year the Grade 7 class had 65 pupils in total,” he said.
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NewsDay Weekender established that morale was high among the teachers as the school offers incentives to its staff.
There are six teachers who handle the three Grade 7 classes on a rotational basis, a trick that has worked for them.
“The six teachers work on rotation. One teacher takes the Grade 6 class up to Grade 7 and back to Grade 6 again. The teacher works with the pupils for two years. This has helped a lot. But credit is also given to the teachers at the lower grades. They do work hard as well. We do not select pupils during enrolling, we mentor them when they are here,” Tsai said.
This paper also established that there is academic competition at the private school as most teachers are jostling to acquire degrees from different universities across the country. This year alone, 10 teachers graduated after obtaining degrees, another factor that has contributed to the high pass rate.
“The teachers are eager to further their knowledge. Ten of them obtained degrees this year only. Currently five of the teachers are studying as well while the rest are done with studying,” Tsai said.
Former Mashonaland East provincial education director, Sylvester Matshaka, is now the school’s adviser as the institution seeks to benefit from his knowledge given his experience in the education sector.
“I joined this school two years ago and I am happy with what the teachers are doing. I offer an advisory role and as a team we are moving towards one goal, to see our pupils getting the best results as well,” he said.
The school has pupils mainly from Ruwa and surrounding areas, while some travel from different suburbs in Harare.
According to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council, the 2016 national pass rate stands at 42,90% reflecting an increase of 1,29% compared to 41,61% recorded in 2015.
According to the statistics, female candidates, who wrote four subjects, performed better than their male counterparts. The pass rate for female candidates was 45,29% compared to the male candidates’ 40,43%.