The Chronicle
KHUMBULA High School is a Brethren-In-Christ Church-run boarding school located in Tsholotsho District’s Ward 7, about 200 kilometres west of Bulawayo and 85km from Tsholotsho Business Centre.
It is a fast-growing school with a total population of more than 400 people. Due to the school’s academic excellence, Khumbula High School has now become the most preferred secondary school in Tsholotsho District and it is held as one of the best schools in Matabeleland North Province.
Khumbula High School is overwhelmed by demand for places for learners in all forms. The school became fully operational as a secondary school in 1984 and gave opportunities to learners from primary school to attend secondary education.
The pass rates at that time were generally low, which influenced locals, including a strong BICC component, to request Tsholotsho Rural District Council (responsible authority for Khumbula High then) to cede Khumbula High to BICC. Resultantly, Khumbula High was ceded to BICC on November 8, 1996.
The school has 383 learners of which 272 are boarders while 111 are day scholars. Of the 383 pupils, 214 are girls while 169 are boys. The school boasts of 39 vibrant, energetic and dedicated members of staff who commit themselves towards the attainment of all targets set by the school. The staff members consist of 22 qualified teachers and 17 support staff.
Khumbula High School learnersThe curriculum offered to learners is widening year by year. Science subjects such as Biology, Crop Science, Statistics and Pure Mathematics have been introduced at A-level.
Co-curricular activities offered by the school include soccer, handball, netball, volleyball, chess and public speaking.
Despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, the school has experienced great improvement of its public examination results at both Ordinary and Advanced Level. The recent results obtained in the 2021 Zimsec examinations for O-level was a 64 percent pass rate, an increase from the 58 percent pass rate attained in 2020. At A-level, the school recorded a 100 percent pass rate with quality symbols across the board, an increase from the previous year’s 88 percent.
At A-level, Kwandumusa Ndlovu attained 17 points while Mthobinhliziyo Dube, Thuthuka Chakawata, Andrea Ndlovu and Nyaladzani Pholi attained 14 points each.
At O-level, Mitchelle Mpofu attained 4 As, 6 Bs and 1 C while Fearless Chibva attained 4 As, 5 Bs and 1 C. The 2022 O and A-level candidates, together with their facilitators are working tirelessly to further improve the results for the year with an 85 percent pass rate target set for O-level and 100 percent with quality set for A-level.
Several projects at the school have been undertaken and completed while some are still work in progress. All thanks to the responsible authority, the School Development Committee and the school administration who continuously work in harmony towards the completion of all projects. A new Ford Ranger was purchased for use by the school head.
This car was purchased by the SDC with the help of parents and in consultation with the responsible authority. In 2020, a 7-tonne Eitcher truck was also purchased for the school by the SDC. The school has also managed to drill two solar-powered boreholes as a means of improving its water supply, with one of the boreholes drilled with the assistance of the Tsholotsho Rural District Council who managed to partly fund the project as a way of assisting the school in alleviating its water problems faced in previous years.
Other completed projects include the construction of a Form 1 classroom block built at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce congestion in classes, installation of a solar-powered system that powers the whole school, day and night and tiling of the dining hall among other projects. The agriculture department keeps livestock in the form of goats, cattle and pigs while poultry such as broiler chickens are kept for the purposes of supplying the dining hall.
Article Source: The Chronicle