In a bid to fulfill the presidential directive on school practices regarding Covid-19, the Ministry of Health visited and screened students at Zipatso Academy. Officials from the ministry emphasized the need for the students to follow strict Covid-19 guidelines in order to ensure that cases are kept at a minimum for the schools to remain open. Schools in the country were closed for a cumulative period of seven months. Most students were left in the cold as alternative learning avenues like e-learning are an expensive venture in the country due to high internet costs.

The number of students under scholarship from Senior Chief Kachindamoto has doubled as five more girls have joined Zipatso Academy this academic year. The girls – Dorothy Bizwyck, Teleza Phiri, Ruth Chagoma, Madalitso Chagoma and Mercy Dimba – outperformed 32 other girls from the Chief’s area to join Zipatso Academy for a four-year stay at the school. Most children in Malawi fail to access quality education due to lack of school fees. The scholarship programme is meant to give an opportunity to such students.

The much-awaited boys’ hostel at Zipatso Academy has finally been completed. The 64-capacity hostel has already been occupied by excited students. Speaking when he was handing over the hostel to the students, the school Director, Mr. Henry Dzinkambani, asked the students to take care of the beautiful facility. He thanked the sponsor for the generous offer, saying the hostel has come at the right time with Covid-19 space requirements. The hostel will be officially launched later.

Officials from the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), an arm of Malawi government set up to fight against corruption, had a date with students at Zipatso Academy in Salima. The event, which took place on 5th March this year, was aimed at sensitizing the students against involving themselves in corrupt acts as they grow up. Speaking on the sidelines of the function, one of the officials, Jonathan Chisale, said he was pleased with the response they got from the students and that the anti-graft body will plan follow-up visits to continue engaging the students.

We are happy to announce that the first school class, the form 4 students, will be back to school on 7 September 2020, after six months of school closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Three weeks later we expect the other classes back in order to resume their daily school routine. The national exams of MSCE will take place in January 2021. The first term of the new academic year will start on 4 January 2021 and end on 26 March 2021, the second term will last from 12 April to 2 July, and third term from 19 July to 8 October 2020.

Zipatso Academy attaches great importance to the Covid-19 security measures with hygiene regulations and social distancing. We provide water and soap in all classrooms and hostels, and with classes of 25 students only we easily comply with the recommended measures.

The first cycle of the scholarship programme has been completed with the coming in of five new students in the new academic year. This means that each of the four classes now has five students under scholarship, bringing the total number to 20. This year’s catchment area was expanded to students from Senior Chief Kachindamoto who has been very instrumental in bringing young girls from early marriages back to schools. The scholarship program started in 2016 with five students in Form 1. Its aim is to assist bright students who fail to raise school fees to continue with their secondary school education. The scholarship covers selected schools in three of the 28 districts in Malawi.

Two weeks after starting the new academic year, teachers and students once again came together for a clean-up day as part of the on-going sanitation project. The project is aimed at ensuring that the Zipatso environment remains clean at all times. Led by Mr. Thomas and Mr. Bwanthi, who are the lead persons for the project, the students and teachers picked up papers, glasses, and anything considered as trash. Speaking after the exercise, Mr. Thomas thanked the students for availing themselves and asked for vigilance in order to achieve the ultimate goal which is creation of a trash free environment.

For the fifth year running, Zipatso Academy has maintained a 100% pass rate in the 2019 Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations, administered by the Malawi National Examinations Board (Maneb). This has come despite a drop in the year’s national pass rate which stood at only 50%. Both the Director of the school, Mr. Henry Dzinkambani and the Headteacher, Mr. Zakeyu Kashoni, thanked the teaching staff for the positive results, but were quick to ask for more work especially to ensure an improvement in the quality of the grades obtained by the students. 

In a drive to support Chief Kachindamoto’s attempts to bring the girl child back to school, Zipatso Academy has opened its doors to the chief. The arrangement is that girls from Traditional Authority Kachindamoto’s area now have the chance to benefit from the on-going Zipatso Academy scholarship. Each year, five students are enrolled to start their free secondary education with the school. Currently, there are 17 students under scholarship.

Once successfully rolled out, it will mean the scholarship will now cover three districts, namely, Salima, Lilongwe and Dedza.