"IF you educate a man, you educate one person, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation,” is a golden saying that keeps inspiring many nations.
Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), has nine million girls between the ages of six and 11 who will never attend school due to a number of factors.
A recent report by the Family Aids Caring Trust Zimbabwe (Fact) and the United Nations Children’s Fund claimed that 20 000 girls had dropped out of school since 2020.
Given this background, 19-year-old whizkid Mufaro Agness Zhou, who is the current holder of the National Institute of Allied Arts Cup for Best Duologue (2022) title, is proving to be a torch bearer for the girl child cause.
A former Chisipite Senior School head girl, Zhou is set to receive the internationally-acclaimed educational award for her outstanding performance.
She will on May 24 receive the prestigious Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award Zimbabwe, courtesy of Cambridge Assessment International Education and the British Council.
The award is awarded by the Cambridge examination board for students who do well in specific subjects. For Zhou, on top of her Advanced Level combination of English Literature, History and French she also did an AS Level subject, called Global Perspectives and Research which is earning her the Cambridge award.
The awards ceremony will be held at Golden Conifer in Strathaven, Harare.
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The teenager, who is now waiting to go and study law this July at Deakin University in Australia, told NewsDay Life & Style that she was happy to have raised the country’s flag high by receiving the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award Zimbabwe.
“Getting the awards at Chisipite Senior School just feels like the cherry on top of having the opportunity to speak my mind and write it too because most of the awards are from essay-based subjects or public speaking of some kind,” she said.
“The fact that I have come such a long way to be able to put down on paper exactly what I think or speak in a room full of people was originally the goal, because I was doing it for myself. The awards just meant someone out there also saw the work I know and put in.”
Zhou added: “This Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award Zimbabwe is probably one of the most exciting one because it confirms that it is not just within the walls of my high school that I can do this, but I could even compete with people from all over the world.”
On choosing to study law in Australia, Zhou said: “I really want to help people in the best way I know, and that is things like debate, essays and research, so it was the next logical step for me to take law.”
Her advice to fellow students is not to chase a grade or an award.
“Of course, those things can be motivational, but the goal should be to become more knowledgeable in the subjects that one loves and to refine your skills. And, to do subjects that genuinely interest you and that you have a passion for,” she said, adding that awards and good grades will always follow after that.
Zhou has been an exceptional pupil at Chisipite Senior School where she amassed 12 points from the English Literature, History and French combination.
Last year she was the head of debate and was also a recipient of several awards that include, the Upper Six Best Overall Humanities Student Award (2022) and the 2022 Drama Award for Best Musical Performance.
In addition, she was also adjudged the Best Overall Mooter at the University of Dundee African Schools Mooting Competition (2022). She is also a holder of the Chisipite Senior School Upper Six History Award (2022) and Full Drama Colours (2022).
She also holds the Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa’s Award for a student who most embodies the school ethos to be “brave and strong and true” (2022) and the trophy for Upper Six student who has contributed the most to school life (2022).
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