The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi Education Correspondent
It was W B Yeats who said, “Education is not filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.” Exactly what hard-working business man Samuel Mushambi wanted to demonstrate at Riverside College! The fire started off with a little smoke in 2016, took just one year to burn, but three years down the line 2018 into 2019 it has grown into tongues of flames promising to blaze into an academic inferno.
“Watch out those who were there before us; here we come!” The Principal, Johnson Mabvumbe, told The Manica Post. He was hardly able to control himself with excitement over both the one hundred percent 2018 A-Level and 83, 63 percent O-Level pass rate.
“We are here to prove a point. And we are already there. Watch us carefully going forward. We cannot and will not remain small forever. Now it’s our turn to shine. This 100 percent pass rate is only the beginning of greater things to come,” said the former Pafiwa-Hartzel school head.
Three years ago on a lush quintessential private farm, Mr Samuel Mushambi erected a beautiful school that was as beautiful as a rose in a desert.
Humble beginnings with a solitary five brave learners in 2016 slowly crept into what Shakespeare would have described as ‘‘petty pace” from day to day, month to month, year to year, to the last syllable of recorded time.
Today Riverside College boasts 105 learners sharing 20 competent teachers determined to make this beautiful academic oasis a force to reckon with in Manicaland and the whole country.
Riverside College under the proficient directorship of Ms Cleo Mushambi, daughter to the owners of the institution, the experience of the Principal Mr Mabvumbe, the Headmaster-Mr Enias Mushambi and the careful and proficient service delivery of the Curriculum executioner, Herbert Masuka, boasts a formidable administrative team that will stop at nothing to make this college a beacon of academic excellence. The Curriculum specialist serves in the administration of the college and teaches Mathematics.
The Principal, Mr Mabvumbe told The Manica Post that the excellent 2018 A-Level results (100 percent pass rate) and O-Level results (83, 63 percent) are owed to the teachers’ hard work and team work . . . not forgetting the zeal of the learners to do the best.
Speaking to The Manica Post, the college director, Ms Cleo Mushambi was ecstatic, almost hysterical with the O-Level results that came out as this reporter was compiling this story.
“We are certainly creating stars at Riverside. At A-Level we had Chimalis Mushambi scooping 14 Cambridge points-Maths-B, Biology-A, Chemistry-A, Eleanor Sithambuli at 12 Cambridge points-Maths-B, Biology-B, Chemistry-C, Tony Maunganidze — Business Studies-A*, Accounts-A, Economics-B. This is phenomenal.”
“In the O-Level results,” continued Ms Mushambi, “. . . we have Tanyaradzwa Makombe with 7As and 2Bs, Makuyana Munashe with 5 As and 6 Bs, And need I remind you these are Cambridge points? We are rejoicing. We are in the seventh heaven. We are over the moon. But we will not sit and be complacent. Just watch us!”
Asked to comment on the reasons attributed to such wonderful performance, this is what College Principal Johnson Mabvumbe said . . . he too, visibly over the moon.
“The culture of this great school which operates on pure Adventist principles makes discipline extremely easy to enforce because the students are well behaved and God-fearing whether Adventist or non-Adventist. Smart curriculum compliance which emphasises the 3Hs, which are, the development of the Head, Heart and Hands makes us perfect advocates of 21st century education skills,” said the former Elise Gledhill High school head.
“We do not believe in preparing book worms at Riverside College . . . book worms prepared only to excel during examinations.”
Mabvumbe cited school regulations, the Dos and Don’ts, the effective and professional command of the Responsible Authority as the pillars of educational discipline needed for accomplishment.
“Running a school demands a strong understanding of the discipline of hard work, firmness with love and efficacy, transparency and good will. Above these, the office of the school head needs to allow a spirit of participation and involvement. Teachers are not passengers in the administration of a school,” said the veteran school head.
“They need to relate to the ethos and vision of the school and the Responsible Authority and be able to run with it. They must enjoy space to belong and enjoy their work but be hard-working and disciplined enough themselves, to deliver the goods . . . to deliver results.
They cannot run away from responsibility and accountability. They are trusted academic foot-soldiers to whatever outcomes of examinations . . . strictly accountable.”
Supporting the Principal to explain what now makes Riverside College a force to reckon with, Mr Masuka emphasised the school culture which he said everyone understood and valued to the letter.
“The church dictates orientation, protection and discipline of everyone here. We keep our children busy and teach them with seriousness of purpose and love. We act in loco-parentis which means acting in the place of their parents so that the atmosphere and environment of family is not lost. That is critical,” said Mr Masuka.
Mr Enias Mushambi plays the role of a Headmaster. He echoed the need to keep students busy and clinical supervision of teachers.
“This school is oiled by effective teacher supervision, keeping learners busy and inspired and accurate syllabus interpretation. We do that by exercising admin team work and strict observation of the culture of the school.”
The A-Team took The Manica Post crew around the college, including the Science Laboratory, the kitchen and dining-hall, junior and senior girls’ hostels. This place is a small university.
That summarises the standards. I have a feeling ‘university’ is an understatement. This is a place where everybody . . . each in his or her way, including the students, makes an effort to keep the college the best example of everything.
The school captains, both the boy (Kelvin Manjoro) and girl (Charlene Sakarombe) and their lieutenants, vice head-boy (Musukutwa Pleasant) and vice head-girl (Anotidaishe Kandwe) are all an unmistakable representation of the school culture and standards. As captains of the student ‘‘politburo’’ you see them, talk to them, ask them questions, and instantly you conclude another of the college’s unsung heroism: leadership training. They are perfect examples of student leaders even here in a high-school-cum college scenario. It is like a children’s ‘‘university’’.
Riverside College enrols out-of Zimbabwe students, so far notably from Mozambique and Uganda. Even parents in the Diaspora have confidence in this ‘‘small England’’ in the middle of nowhere where they get the best value for their money. And happy that their children are doing extremely well even in the study of English Language which is foreign to them! A perfect example of this kind of language brilliance is found in Irae Chicudo, a proud beautiful girl from Mozambique who came to Riverside hardly able to speak one English word.
She had a straight ‘A’ grade in English in both Cambridge and ZimSec examinations.
She has come back to Riverside this year to do lower six. . .and a brother heartily joins her at the school. Why Not? Another exclusive story for another week! Do not miss this special story featuring this unique Riverside foreign students’ programme attracting more and more first-class performers.
Well done Riverside College! The Manica Post gladly shares your dream of stopping at nothing to offer the best education possible in Manicaland.
