Bonda honours best performers

Senior Reporter Samuel Kadungure
ST David’s Girls’ High School Bonda honoured its toppers for their academic excellence in a range of subjects, leadership and commitment to the school community at an awards ceremony held last Friday.

Teachers with outstanding national results and long-serving employees were also honoured. The individual awards were presented by Constitutional and Supreme Court judge, Justice Elizabeth Gwaunza. Justice Gwaunza is one of Bonda’s alumni, having passed through its gate from 1968 to 1973.

The glitz ceremony was held under the theme “Living a Wholesome Life, Harnessing the New Curriculum for the Success of the Girl Child”. The honoured students secured more than 90 percent marks in a range of subjects, leadership and for their commitment to the school community.

“This respected and highly reputable school is one whose place is securely carved in the history and development of education in Zimbabwe generally and that of the girl child in particular. It has produced female professionals in every sphere of human endeavour both nationally and internationally. It is a school of winners — a winning mentality and a tremendous spirit of self-belief. It is fantastic to see so many people from here doing so well thanks to the encouragement they received from the school,” said Justice Gwaunza.

She congratulated the students and urged them to work towards maintaining excellence in all their endeavours. Justice Gwaunza noted that the awards they had received should not be the end, but the beginning of their quest to achieve success in all spheres of life. She reminded the award winners to apply the acquired knowledge in the world of work. She also encouraged students who did not receive awards to put in more effort in their studies to be counted among the awardees in subsequent awards ceremonies.

“I am informed that the new curriculum can be used effectively to redress some problems hindering success of the girl child. It is skill-oriented, and exposes children to content and practical subjects, which apply in real life situations and help mould a complete girl child who can be accommodated in any situation in a global scale. Government has made great strides in uplifting the status of women and girls, not only through curriculum reform, but also through positive policy and legislative changes. Education is an emancipating tool and the girl child is entitled to it as the boy child. Let us continue to provide equal opportunities to all children,” said Justice Gwaunza.

“St David’s Bonda Girls’ High has since 1961 been the bastion of girl child empowerment through offering a robust curriculum that has seen thousands of girls from this reputable institution compete favourably with their male counterparts. Today the school is geared to do even better as espoused by its vision — to emerge as a centre of excellence in churning our world-class and well-groomed girl children. The level to which girls are exposed to life skills demonstrates the depth of concern that the school has for the success of the girl child,” she said.

Bonda head, Mr Caston Chitsidzo Samanga, said the school was committed to instilling young girls with ubuntu and winning spirit that would stay with them during their time at the school and beyond.

“We are gathered here to celebrate the achievements of the girl child. The education of our children is being pursued in the context of the new curriculum whose basic aim is to create, mould and develop a wholesome learner who will grow into a responsible adult. Wellness and morality are hallmarks of the wholesomeness. Ubuntu is a key principle for a wholesome learner. The parent, school, community and nation have to provide space to the girl child to fully exploit her potential for national development,” said Mr Samanga.

Mr Samanga said Bonda had reincarnated itself as an academic bastion whose glitter was inescapable. The institution is intolerant to poor pedagogy and lack of student’s seriousness. Mr Samanga commands troops whose vision extends beyond their own classrooms — even beyond their own teams or departments.

He said today’s teacher must not only be a conveyor of information and knowledge to students, but must be organiser, planner, co-ordinator and strategist of the teaching process and must understand that the centre of the teaching process should be the student. This awareness prompts these teachers to want to influence positive change.

“The New Curriculum will give the learners a unique identity as Zimbabweans and relate school to the productive sector of the economy. Critical skills and competencies combined to knowledge mastery provide a wholesome exit package for learners.

“Our learners must be imbued with values and sense of national identity which enable them to make right choices for themselves, their families and for the nation at large,” said Mr Samanga.

A delighted prefect, Eleanor Kambanga, said: “St David’s Girls’ High is a great school and I think it is brilliant that they give the students a platform like this to recognise our hard work and to say thank you. It has motivated us to do even better next year,” she said.