A TOP education officer in Harare has attributed the high pass rate recorded at most schools in the capital last year to the stimulus brought about by the introduction of merit awards at district and provincial levels.
Feluna Nleya
Harare provincial education director Edward Shumba told NewsDay yesterday that most schools had obtained better results since the introduction of the awards.
“These merit awards let students and schools compete at their level, against each other and try to achieve the best,” Shumba said.
“If one school receives an award for producing good results that makes the other schools want to do better and also receive the award next time, hence they work harder and that also improves the grades.”
Shumba cited schools in Glen View and Mufakose which he said had about 170 pupils with four units at Grade Seven following the introduction of the stimulus.
“The merit awards have been going on well and the level of performance has gone up in most schools because of these merit awards and we are happy,” Shumba said.
“This will show some of the schools lagging behind that they need to pull up their socks.”
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Shumba said at the moment they were holding district merit awards and will have the provincial merit awards on July 25 at the Celebration Centre.
Shumba said they also have awards for the best infrastructure in terms of Early Childhood Development.
Last year, Avondale Primary School scooped the secretary’s merit award for Harare province after it was adjudged to have made tangible efforts to provide top quality classrooms, libraries and e-learning opportunities to its pupils.
The award is intended to inspire various categories of teaching and learning institutions to continuously strive for excellence.
