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Leonard Ncube, leonard,[email protected]

ROMAN Catholic Church-run Ekusileni Primary and Secondary schools in Filabusi on Saturday held a joint induction workshop for the two institutions’ School Development Committees (SDCs).

The election of new SDC office bearers was done last month at the schools, located about 127km from Bulawayo and 26km from Filabusi Centre in Matabeleland South, and the induction was meant to apprise the committees of their duties and to start working.

Ekusileni is one of the oldest mission schools in the region and country having opened its doors in the 1960s starting with the primary school and some of the big names both in the Government and private sector are its products.

Standards including pass rate had deteriorated in the past few years due to maladministration by those that had been tasked with day to day running of the school.

The responsible authority, the Catholic Church, has invoked its traditional way of running its schools and the school has been taken over by AMR Sisters to improve standards and restore dignity and image.

Enrolment and pass rates had gone down but fortunes have started changing for the better since the school was put in the hands of the AMR with Sr Monica Mariya Dube as the head.

The secondary school has 270 pupils and the pass rate for the 2023 Ordinary level class rose from 33 percent to 51.4 percent owing to changes introduced by the AMR Sisters starting last year when the head of the school was removed.

The AMR Sisters run AMR Primary and Secondary schools as well as AMR Amandlethu High School in Lupane and the schools are some of the top performers in Matabeleland North.

Mr Douglas Moyo, the Schools Inspector for Insiza District facilitated the induction workshop at the school on Saturday where he challenged both SDCs to think outside the box and help the school back to its former glory.

Mr Moyo said things that affect enrolment include pass rate, diet, indiscipline as well as conditions at the school.

The SDC is elected using both Government and responsible authority standards and encourages traditional leaders and the community to be part of the developments at the school.

“There are so many ways to raise resources so that we improve the welfare of learners and teachers and school appearance itself.  The SDC should be able to resolve conflict, be accountable, transparent, inclusive, respect and have teamwork,” said Mr Moyo.

He took the committees through their expected roles and encouraged them to respect each other and work together as well as seek to know Government policies about education.

He challenged the SDC committees to initiate projects for the school.

Representing the responsible authority Sr Siqaliso Bernadette also attended the workshop and commended the working relationship between the church and Government.

“The church brought the school to develop the child hence we want to be part of education, develop education, and evangelise.  We want to nurture the child and youth and the Ministry comes in to supervise and see that we remain within the dictates of the country’s laws.

“We are here to teach the Catholic faith which is why we have a priest-in-charge (Fr Mthombeni) as chaplain. We want to offer exceptional education which is why our schools are known for high pass rates,” she said.

Ekusileni Secondary School head Sr Mariya Monica Dube said they needed commitment and dedication from the SDC in their wish to improve the standard of the school to become one of the best in the province.

“Our target is to improve the pass rate and we have lined up many projects such as gardening, improving diet, and others as we want to lift the school, church, and community flag higher.

“We are open to any partnerships and assistance from anyone who wishes to help to improve the standards at the school. We are grateful to parents for assisting the school and the new administration in efforts to raise standards of the school and teachers’ working conditions,” she said.

The primary school SDC committee is comprised of locals while the secondary school committees comprise locals and some from its catchment area across the country.

On Saturday the school also hosted a Brazilian luncheon for SDC and teachers to create a working relationship and encourage teachers to work harder.