The ManicaPost
Lloyd Makonya Post Correspondent
John Cowie primary school of Makoni District are the 2017 provincial champions of the primary schools heritage quiz competition after winning the final held at Chancellor primary school last Friday.
Seven teams representing each of Manicaland’s seven districts battled it out to be the provincial champions and the right to be the province’s representatives at the national finals. This year’s provincial finalists were Chancellor Primary School (Mutare), Chipinge Primary (Chipinge), Hauna Christian College (Mutasa), John Cowie (Makoni), Murambinda B (Buhera), Mutambara Reserve Primary School (Chimanimani) and Mount Mellary primary school of Nyanga who were the defending champions.
Murambinda B primary school of Buhera and Chancellor of Mutare District were second and third respectively. John Cowie will therefore represent the province at the National finals to be held later in May here in Manicaland.
Teams from other regions who will compete in the national finals are Warren Park 4 (Northern Region), Mpumelelo (Western), Gutu United (Southern) and Cecil John Rhodes (Central).
The Heritage education quiz competition is an annual programme run by the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) for primary schools with an aim of improving awareness, understanding and appreciation of national heritage in an enjoyable manner.
Mr Kainos Mukonavanhu who is the Heritage Education officer at Mutare Museum said the competition was initiated in 1993 and has continued to grow in its appeal with 150 primary schools participating in the initial edition in 1993, but as of 2016 the competition had 5 224 participating schools.
Mutare Junior and Chancellor Primary School jointly hold the national record of having won the competition four times at national finals since the competition’s inception. Over the last four years the intensity of the competition has increased and witnessed the emergence of new powerhouses such as Murambinda B and Mount Mellary who have challenged the dominance of the two Mutare giants.
“NMMZ working with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Schools is working frantically to ensure that the programme reaches all primary schools both in urban and rural set ups to ensure an all encompassing heritage education programme,” said Mr Mukonavanhu.
Through heritage education outreach programmes NMMZ has made efforts to reach the uttermost parts of the province to share the heritage knowledge albeit financial resources at times have put spanners in these efforts. Besides promoting awareness of national heritage amongst children, the quiz programme promotes the use of museums as an educational resource of this heritage by schools.
With the introduction of Heritage studies in the new curriculum of the Ministry of Primary and Secondary schools museums are perfectly placed to offer a vital contribution in the learning of the subject through its wide array of collections, literature, library facilities and expert knowledge of its research departments. Museums offer the teacher and pupils with a new learning space which is relaxed and improves interactivity.
This year’s competition was ably supported by various stakeholders among them Econet, Wise Owl, Alpha Institute, Spar Mutare, TelOne and E-Machines This year’s competition ran under the theme: Museums and contested histories; saying the unspeakable in museums.
