As most people around the globe were on holiday on 1st May, Zipatso Academy, led by their dedicated teachers, took its signature social responsibility initiative to S-2, an area a walkable kilometres away from the campus to reach out to a selected needy household.

Every term, students and teachers make voluntary donations on a stipulated date. The money, so collected, is used, depending on its amount, to help one or more needy individuals in the surrounding community. This initiative helps our students appreciate life in the community and build the spirit of responsibility as they reach out and touch.

Blessed is the hand, and surely the school, that giveth.

Celebration seems to not end at Zipatso Academy. First it was the late 9 points celebration, now it is about 13 students who have been selected to pursue various undergraduate courses in the constituent universities of Malawi.

The public universities released the harmonised university selection lists in conjunction with the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) in April this year. Of the 30 students who passed the 2025 MSCE examinations, 19 were eligible to apply for public university selection and out of these, 13 (4 girls and 9 boys) have made it, representing 68% selection rate.

These students are expected at colleges like Mzuni, LUANAR, UNIMA, MUBAS, KCN, and MUST in the 2026/2027 academic year.

Congratulations are in order!

As a way of reinforcing a hard working spirit, Management of Zipatso Academy identified and awarded a teacher and a member of support staff, who have been outstanding in terms of performance and workmanship in the last academic calendar (2024/2025).

The teacher is Mr Nathan G.T. Phiri. He teaches Mathematics and Biology. In addition, he is the Boarding Master for the school. The member of support staff is Mr Lawrence Tepatepa who is the stores clerk and gardener. Each walked away with MWK60,000 and MWK40,000 respectively.

Management is optimistic that this gesture will spark the workaholic spirit in every worker at Zipatso Academy.

In a melodramatic twist of events, Zipatso Academy can now celebrate its long-awaited single digit as Moses Kasambala, who was announced as the highest scorer with 10 points in the 2025 MSCE examination results, raises his bar with 9 points.

This clandestine achievement comes after MANEB released the re-mark results on 13th November, 2025. Moses Kasambala is now ranked in 3rd position nationwide with 9 points as the first got 7 points. The news is a big booster as it comes at a time when both teachers and students are charged to produce even better grades than this.

Congratulations are in order!

All work no play makes Jack a dull boy, so the saying goes.

In friendly football and netball matches that took place on 15th November, 2025, Zipatso Academy football team lost to Mkwero Community Day Secondary School by 1 goal to 5, whereas the netball team won by 20 baskets to 7.

Zipatso Academy boys were the first to net the ball into the opponents goal five minutes into the First Half. The visitors equalized from a penalty which was awarded when a Zipatso Academy defender handled the ball in the eighteen yard box close to the end of the First Half. The hosts did everything they could by substituting their best from the bench, but all in vain. Mkwero CDSS boys were too good to be outplayed. By the end of 90+ minutes, 5:1 it ended in favour of the visitors.

In a post-match interview, the sports teacher, Mr Austin Phiri, congratulated his girls for a thumping win and promised to train harder with the boys as they prepare to host Cornerstone Christian Academy next week.

The 2025 MSCE examination results were released on Friday, 5 September, 2025 and Zipatso Academy has maintained its 10 points highest scorer.

Granted, we did not reach our goal of getting a single digit but this year’s results have surpassed last year’s as more students have scored below 20 points. This presents them a chance of being selected to public universities with ease.

However, the race for a single digit continues. It is just a matter of time and until that time we say, “A luta continua!”

And to our boys and girls we say, Congratulations!

It is a 100% pass rate again for Zipatso Academy as the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) released results for the 2025 Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations on 18 August, 2025.

Following this, we are pleased to announce that we have maintained a 100% pass rate and that all the 29 candidates, 11 boys and 18 girls, who sat for the examinations passed and will therefore proceed to Form 3.

Zipatso Academy wishes to congratulate the boys and girls, the entire staff of Zipatso Academy and the parents and guardians on this signature performance.

On Saturday 21 June, 2025, Zipatso Academy held an auspicious farewell ceremony, commonly dubbed ‘Graduation’ for this year’s MSCE examination candidates.

The ceremony, which was held in the school’s multipurpose-hall, was graced by Mr Harold Dziwe who is the Station Manager of Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) in Salima. Other invited guests included the Salima Secondary School Headteacher, Mr Mdalamba and the Village Head Mbawa 2.

The outgoing students, who are expected to start their MSCE examinations on 1 July, 2025, were awarded testimonials, and academic certificates based on individual subject performance. Management and Staff wish them all all the best as they prepare to raise the school’s flag higher!

After being rescheduled last term, the new date for the sports and cultural activities was Saturday, 17 May, 2025 in the schools’ extensive campus.

From as early as 5AM, local drums, chanting and ululation had already started being heard as students went out to make final touches on their activities for the once-a-year event. By 8AM, everything was set and Quiz opened the activities. Next up was the Spelling Bee competition. Word Game and Eating Competition came third and fourth before the school hall went into an artistic frenzy as the iconic _chisamba_ dance entered. Modern Dance was the last activity in the hall for the morning.

Other activities performed included Sack Race, 100-metre marathon, 300-metre marathon, netball and football. In the evening, there was _gulewamkulu_ dance before crowning Mr and Mrs Zipatso through a Fashion Show.

In an unprecedented online encounter, Malawi’s Zipatso Academy and Switzerland’s BBZ IDM Thun senior students had an exchange of ideas, experiences and perspectives on 19 March, 2025.

The online encounter, though being the first of its kind, was executed successfully by use of WhatsApp video calls. Ruth Bossart and Andrew Maliro worked tirelessly to see the two teams interact. The former, a Swiss, described the event as »great, wonderful and worthwhile«. Andrew, on the Malawian counterpart, described it as »an impactful and lifelong form of interactive learning«.

It was indeed breathtaking to see students, thousands of miles apart, share thoughts, feelings, questions, future plans, day-to-day life, and many more in real time. This was basically the sole purpose of the online exchange programme. Thanks to the Managements of both schools for accommodating this programme.

At least nine students who sat for MSCE at Zipatso Academy in 2024 have been selected to pursue various degree programmes in public universities.

Selection to a public university is a stiff and highly competitive game in Malawi which sees all Form 4 students countrywide who passed with at least six credits, including those from two previous years, applying to try their luck.

The nine students, who include our top scorer Yamikani Mtalimanja, have been selected to KUHeS, UNIMA, MUBAS, LUANAR and MUST. Congratulations are in order!

Zipatso Academy is proud to have one of its students, Yamikani Mtalimanja, who scored 10 points in the 2024 MSCE examinations, on the National Awards Ceremony.

The National Awards Ceremony, which caters for both public and private secondary schools, has been organized by the First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera, and will take place on 7 February, 2025 at Mkwichi Secondary School in the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe.

There are a total of 30 students who will be awarded during the ceremony. Of the 30 students, 18 are from public secondary schools and 12 from private secondary schools.

‘All work no play makes Jack a dull boy’, so the wise saying goes. On 26 October, 2024, Zipatso Academy students and staff visited Cape Maclear in Mangochi, where they also had a chance to swim in the fresh waters of Lake Malawi. The trip was both educational and recreational as students also had a chance to see for themselves the tourist attraction centre that Cape Maclear, or Chembe, is.

Cape Maclear is surrounded by forested mountains, known for the sandy beaches and granite rocks of Lake Malawi National Park. The park shelters rich wildlife like antelope and baboons. Its clear waters are populated by hundreds of species of colorful cichlid fish. These are visible at dive sites such as Otter Point.

On this day every term, Zipatso Academy students and academic staff members fundraise for charity works by wearing clothes of their choices for a little fee.

This term, the »Lyssig Day« fell on 27 September, 2024.

The money collected in so doing is used to cheer the needy in any designated area around Zipatso Academy on what we call, »Social Responsibility Day« which is normally a Friday after Lyssig Day.

Zipatso Academy is among the schools where best points have been attained in the just released 2024 MSCE examination. MANEB released the results on Monday, 16 September, 2024. Countrywide, Zipatso Academy comes third with 10 points and the candidate’s name is Yamikani Mtalimanja. The first and second positions are 8 and 9 points respectively from two different schools.

Out of the 39 candidates who sat for the examination at Zipatso Academy (26 boys and 13 girls), 37 passed and 2 (boys) failed, representing 95% pass rate. Countrywide, 177,434 candidates sat for the examination and 97,222 passed, representing 54.79%. From 11 points in 2023 to 10 points in 2024, we say our journey to single digit points is fast approaching materialization!

Congratulations to the boys and girls and the entire Staff and Management of Zipatso Academy!!!

On Friday, 16 August, 2024, the Malawi National Examinations Board (MANEB) released results for the 2024 Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) examinations which will see candidates proceeding from Junior Section to Senior Section (Form 2 to Form 3).

Following this, we are pleased to announce that we have maintained a 100% pass rate and that all the 30 candidates, 17 boys and 13 girls, who sat for the examinations will proceed to Form 3.

Zipatso Academy wishes to congratulate the boys and girls, the entire staff of Zipatso Academy and the parents and guardians on this success.

On the night of 6 July, 2024, our 32 outgoing Form 4 students who are in the middle of writing their Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations, had an exquisite dinner in the school’s gallery.

The dinner is part of the year-to-year farewell ceremony, popularly crowned “graduation”, where the outgoing students celebrate their four-year stay at the campus and bid farewell to the members of staff and fellow students remaining behind. Testimonials and academic awards are also issued to the outgoing students at this event.

In normal circumstances, the farewell party is held a week before writing of the national examinations commences. This year it was slated for June 22 as the national examinations were starting on July 2. However, following the loss of the country’s Veep and eight others in a tragic plane crash on 10 June, 2024, the Ministry of Education advised that schools hold farewell parties on the 6th or 7th of July, 2024 after the 21-day mourning period was over.

We wish the candidates all the best as they continue with the examinations this Tuesday, 9 July, 2024.