For some time now, Zambia’s secondary school landscape has had its dynamics in terms of a particular school’s heritage, norms, and prestige that it marvels upon even as the hands of time clock from its history into the future.
Some secondary schools have been renowned for famous or infamous reasons; hooligan, vandals, or riotous imprints by its learners, poor academic records, or churning out well-mannered pupils as they graduate into society.
Others however have been hallmarks of excellence in the spheres of sports, well-cultured or noble citizens, and academic heavyweights in yielding record numbers of high-scoring earners from literally all of their streams since time in memorial.
The educational provision segmentation of schools in the country has generally consisted of specific gender or Co-education general secondary, private, technical, and missionary established or based secondary schools.
The ‘crème de la crème’ or best of the best academic performers in national exams, has traditionally been drawn from some private, technical, and Missionary schools.
As for the Missionary school’s cluster, the academic performance of learners under most mission schools in national examinations is exceptional to the extent that most parents or guardians strive to enrol their children in such mission schools.
With the support from various churches in the country involved in the running of secondary schools for both boys and girls, the academic performance of most learners who pass through these mission schools continues to excel.
In Southern Province, Njase girls’ secondary school, is managed by the United Church of Zambia, and this school has continued to be on the map due to the good results it has continued to produce each year for both grades nine and 12.
Eastern Province hosts schools like St Monica’s Secondary and Chassa Secondary both being run by the Catholic church and these schools continue their exemplary record.
Lusaka has the famous St Mary’s and Roma Girls Secondary schools which have carried their academic beacon high year in and year out.
In Luapula Province St Clements secondary school of Mansa district is one of the schools which has continued to produce good results from the time it was established in 1964 the year Zambia got its independence.
At St Clement’s, many people have contributed to the school being one of the best schools not only in the province but the country at large.
One name that stands out is that of Mr. Medard Kasese who was the first indigenous Headteacher at the school and according to him the style of management at the school has helped the school maintain its status as one of the best schools in the country.
Mr. Kasese who is now 92 years old, recounts how serious the school was when it came to maintaining high academic performance such that every teacher was expected to complete the syllabus before learners could sit for their examinations.
“I was appointed the Headteacher for St. Clement secondary school in 1970 when I had just completed my degree from the University of Zambia where I majored in History and Geography and I was there for seven years,” he said.
According to Mr. Kasese, the school only had whites as teachers and he was the only black person by the time he was joining the institution after taking over from Mr. Namara who was the Headteacher at that time.
“The school already had a proper system which enabled it to produce good results at both grade nine and 12 hence I just made sure that I followed the same system the moment I joined the school and that is why we were able to maintain the good academic performance at the school,” he noted.
He highlighted how learners were expected to not only attend regular lessons but also required to take part in extra studies which usually took place after classes both in the afternoon and evenings.
Mr. Kasese shared how he received support from both the pupils and the teachers when he first came to the school for the first time and this support enabled him to carry out his duties in a proper manner.
His input as then head, the seven years of contribution by Mr. Kasese at the school have not gone unrecognised as the current Mansa Diocese Bishop Patrick Chisanga directed the school to name the library after his name; Medard Kasese Library where he has since donated two of his books on bemba tales translated in English.
The 60 years of academic excellence has seen the school attracting learners from across the country as most parents want their children to have a better education hence opting to bring them to St Clement’s secondary School.
The school which runs from grade 8 up to grade 12 currently has a total number of 700 learners who are dedicated to maintain the high academic performance which the school is known for.
Harrison Zulu, a grade 12 pupil is optimistic that he will be able to get 6 points during this year’s examinations as the school has enabled him to prepare adequately.
“In my case I come from Chipata, Eastern Province but my parents wanted me to come to this school and I can see the reason because here it is all about hard work and that is why the school has been able to produce 100 percent passing marks at both grade 9 and 12,” he noted.
Luapula province generally has not been performing well at national level examinations at both grade 9 and 12 but St Clements Secondary school is one of the few schools which have maintained high academic excellence in the province.
Luapula Province Education Officer Grace Singolongo revealed that St Clement has been putting the province on the national map as it has remained consistent for 60 years in terms of good performance.
“This school is our pride and we always do everything possible on our part to support them like giving them very dedicated teachers so that the school can continue performing better,” she said.
The Provincial Education Officer indicated that the school is always given first priority when it comes to selecting pupils who qualify to go to grade 8 and that this is aimed at ensuring that only best performing learners are admitted at the school.
She noted that no one can talk about academic excellence in Luapula without mentioning St. Clements Secondary School because it is one of the few schools whose performance has been outstanding from the time it was opened in August, 1964.
Mansa Diocese Bishop Patrick Chisanga stated St. Clements secondary school has continued to achieve the purpose the church established in 1964 through the then Bishop Rene Pailloux from the congregation of the Missionary of Africa.
The Catholic church by that time wanted to use the education sector as the other way of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ apart from the usual Sunday homilies and other church teachings.
“In the 60 years the school has been in existence we have seen the school produce not only pupils with good results but pupils who have gone to make a difference in society due to the good mentorship they received while pursuing their studies at St Clements secondary school,” he said.
The bishop intimates that the church always gets excited to contribute towards the improvement of the education sector in the country through the running of schools such as St Clements and other Catholic schools.
Bishop Chisanga indicated that the collaboration that exists between the government and the church has enabled the church to continue providing social services such as education to everyone, even those who are non-Catholics.
“Today we are talking about St Clements clocking 60 years since it was opened but this could not have been possible minus the support the school continues to receive from the government in terms of grants and other incentives,” noted the bishop.
The support of the catholic church not only in the education sector but in other sectors like health has been acknowledged by the government which sees this partnership as one which has helped to better the lives of the people.
Luapula Province Minister Njavwa Simutowe observed that without the support of the catholic church not much could have been achieved in sectors like education and health in Luapula Province.
He pointed out that the church is running a number of schools and health facilities in Luapula Province which are helping not only Catholics but every Zambian.
“As government we want to assure the church of our support even as they continue to provide various services to our people and the 60 years of St. Clements just goes to show how committed the church is in supplementing government efforts,” stated the Minister.
Sr. Maria Mwanza, the current Headteacher at St Clements secondary school has since pledged that the school will continue on its rich academic accolade.
Sr. Mwanza said management at the school continues to provide the necessary support to each department at the school to ensure that they have the appropriate teaching materials needed to deliver quality lessons to pupils.
” Every Teacher who is here knows what is expected from him or her in terms of performance and this helps us to maintain academic excellence and as a school, we shall endeavour to achieve that at all times, ” she said.
Sr. Mwanza has however called for support towards rehabilitating some of the depleted infrastructure at the school which has remained unchanged since 1964.
