Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter
MAVHUDZI High School continues to maintain its dominance as a holistic educational institution that successfully integrates theoretical tutorials with actual production and productivity on the ground for the benefit of thousands of learners who passes through its gates.
After a six-year cycle, the learners should be practically ready to face and conquer the world.
Mavhudzi High School is owned by Zimbabwe Foundation for Education with Production (ZIMFEP), and has been a shining beacon when it comes to quality academic outcomes, monetising practical subjects on offer and extra curricula activities like sports and music.
The Nyazura-based school has been a firm favourite for parents who want their children to be equipped with vital practical skills that will in future enable them to start their own enterprises and become employers instead of looking for white collar jobs.
The school has a number of production units where learners engage and participate in, giving them a competitive advantage over other schools.
Mavhudzi High School Deputy Head Cde Shadreck Mafuta
It is a mixed school with 1 184 learners and 63 teachers.
The school is led by Cde Violet Dube, who believes that they have made significant strides in providing balanced education since its formation in 1981.
“Mavhudzi High School is a ZIMFEP school that was opened in 1981 to cater for returning liberation war fighters to get education, and re-integration back into the society. The comrades constructed the school for themselves, including classrooms and teachers’ residence. There were no hostels and they would sleep in tents.
Mavhudzi High School administrator, Cde Brian Chimwadzimba in one of the fowl runs housing layers which provide eggs to the learners, while the surplus is sold to the community
“It morphed into a modern academic institution that offers education with production, which is anchored on self-sustenance. When one leaves Mavhudzi High School, they should be able to look after themselves by utilising the life skills they acquire here.
“Education with production resonates well with the Heritage-based curriculum. The whole idea is to equip learners with requisite competencies that will enable them to earn a decent living even if they don’t secure a white collar job. The whole idea is to remove the mentality of thinking of being employed after one completes school.
The school’s rich trophy cabinet
“Whose company are you going to look for employment in this era where formal unemployment is so high? So our children here are different from those in other schools because we train them patriotism, honest and hard work.
“We train them to be ready to economically build their country. We do not train learners to leave Zimbabwe and develop other nations. We train our learners to harness local resources and heritage to develop their own communities and country.
“We do not only put emphasis on academic subjects, but ensure that our learners acquire the entrepreneurial side to everything they learn. Even if it is Literature in English, we teach them to write poetry and novels so that they earn a living from that.
Some of the Mavhudzi High School learners enjoy the serene environment at the school — Pictures: Tinai Nyadzayo
“This school is also open to ideas from learners and some of the amazing things happening here came from suggestions and inputs made by our learners. We identify talent and develop it so that our learners get exposure.
We have a vibrant dance group which was invited to perform at the ZANU PF National People’s Conference last year, while our marimba band performed at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in April this year.
“A lot of people were mesmerised by their talent, and we have an invitation for the band to participate in Ghana later this year. The learners now appreciate that there are better opportunities and money in the arts sector,” said Cde Dube.
Mavhudzi is a highly commercialised school with business units straddling various facets of agriculture — cattle rearing, broiler and egg production, piggery and crop production.
“We have a joint venture with a private investor where we produce tobacco on 35 hectares. The school now produces the majority of its food requirements here. We also have our own bakery as well as an ice-cream making machine. We do not solely depend on school fees to run the school,” said Cde Dube.
The deputy head, Cde Shadreck Mafuta said the school has been registering impressive academic results at Ordinary and Advanced Level.
Cde Mafuta credited the impressive outcomes to a conducive learning environment, dedicated teachers, focused learners and immense support from parents and responsible authority.
The school’s state-of-the art and one of its kind amphitheatre which accommodates over 1 000 people
“Our learners are so disciplined and focused on their academic studies. We have a library that is adequately stocked. The library also offers internet services for our learners to carry out research work. We have managed to maintain a high pass-rate over the past years because our teachers are effectively guiding learners.
“Our pass-rate over the past three years was as follows: O-Level 2021 (82 percent); 2022 (77 percent) and 2023 (84 percent). For A-Level in 2021, our pass-rate was (91 percent), 2022 (100 percent) and 2023 (98 percent).
“We are proud of our academic achievements and extra curricula exploits. We recently came out tops at national level in darts and chess. Every learner is encouraged to partake extra curricula activities,” said Cde Mafuta.
School administrator, Cde Brian Chimwadzimba (left) inspects pigs with the Agriculture Sciences teacher, Cde Muzondiwa Mukazhi. The school has a thriving piggery project
The school administrator, Cde Brian Chimwadzimba, who runs the production units, said they have a deliberate “catch them young policy” where enterprising skills are imparted on learners.
“I was deployed here by the responsible authority (ZIMFEP), and I concentrate on the production side of the school. We have various production units which I superintend over. We facilitate the participation of learners in the production that happen here.
“On top of making the school self-sufficient, the production units also equip our learners with real life practical skills. We have a catch them young policy so that learners grew up with an entrepreneurial mind-set.
“Nowadays vocational skills are lucrative, and must be taken seriously. A learner with 10A’s must be able to rear pigs, chickens or fabricate a chair to sit on. Our learners are so enthusiastic in partaking practical lessons, and some of the former learners have successfully started their own thriving businesses, tapping on the practical skills imparted on them from this school,” revealed Cde Chimwadzimba.
