Celebrating years of hardwork

It is normal for students to be proud of their schools. They become proud of many things; the nice buildings in the school, their hard working teachers, and at times even the name of their school, especially when it is named after a famous national leader. And it is even better if the school has a good record in national examinations.

In last year’s Certificate of Secondary Education Examination, one school that is named after the former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi perfomed exceptionally well.

“You have done justice to the name of your patron; I’m very proud of you and your teachers. I can now proudly walk as if I’m the one who sat for and passed the exams,” said the former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi at celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of Ali Hassan Mwinyi Elite Schools (Ahmes) in Bagamoyo recently.

The celebrations, attended by parents and students, was also used as a forum to make an assessment of the Form Four results and evaluate the performance while planning for the future.

“It was a great day for the school to achieve what everyone has been dreaming of,” said retired President Mwinyi, while praising the school for leading in the category of schools with lesser than 40 candidates.

According to the results which were announced earlier in the year, Ahmes topped in the category of 1,439 schools.

Speaking during the ceremony, the school’s academic master Hasssan Massegense said that the 2016 Form Four national examinations results put the school at the peak.

In the results announced by the National Examination Council of Tanzania (Necta), 23 Ahmes students scored Division One, while six others got Division Two. According to Masegense, the results make the school to score 1.6425 GPA, which is equivalent to between 75 and 80 per cent in each subject.

“With this percentage, it means that students scored the average of ‘A’ in each subject,” he noted.

With such results, the school becomes the first among 44 schools in Coast Region and the first in the country in the category of schools with not more than 40 students.

“To us, this is a great achievement. If a student managed to get 75 per cent or above in each subject, then the school will definitely be among best performers at the national level. This is what we are targeting to achieve,” the academic master told the school’s patron, Mr Mwinyi.

After only ten years of existence, the school has managed to achieve a remarkable progress compared to most schools which have been in existence for decades. Records show that in 2013, the first Four Four classes at Ahmes completed their studies and the school took the 14th position at the national level from 73rd position. In 2014, it climbed to the 13th position while in 2015 the school occupied the 7th position.

With the intense competition among schools with few Form Four students, the school, according to the former President, deserves a round of applause for the efforts done.

In line with the school Motto, ‘Forward Ever, Backward Never’ students feel that they can do better. Rebecca Simon and Irene Majura, who completed Form Four last year at the school and scored Division One, said special tailored-programmes introduced at the school, have compelled students to work hard in their studies.

“Monthly exams have helped to build competition among students and to a great extent compel students to focus on studies all the time,” said Irene who scored Division One with 14 points. Rebecca, who scored Division One with 10 points, commended her teachers for their efforts and hard work which paid off. Irene and Rebecca, have high hopes of doing better in their Form Six exams as they have already opted to rejoin their former school for A-Level studies.

However, despite the good performance, Mr Mwinyi urged students not to relax as the competition ahead is still very high. “From this year, the school will be ranked among schools with more than 40 students,” said the Ahmes academic master. According to him, competition among schools in that category is likely to be more intense compared to that of the category of schools with students below 40.

“There are 4,719 secondary schools which fall in those two categories. One is for schools with students less than 40 and the other is for schools with more than 40 students,” said Masegense.

The second category has 3,280 schools, and according to him, Ahmes will be competing with top schools such as Feza Boys Secondary School, which leads in the category. “With our current 1.6425 GPA, that means that our school will occupy the 6th position among 4,719 schools in the whole category,” he said.

According to Masegense, Feza Boys is leading the category with 1.4 GPA followed by St Francis with the same GPA while Kaizirege Seminary from Kagera Region occupies the third position with 1.5 GPA followed by Bagamoyo’s Marian Girls and Boys with 1.6 GPA.

Other top schools are Shamsiye Boys 1.7 GPA in the 7th position and Feza Girls 1.7 GPA both in the 8th position, St Aloysius from Arusha 1.7 GPA in the 9th position and Musab Boys School with 1.8 GPA in the 10th position.

“What these data shows us is that we need to score 1.2 or 1.3 GPA in order to lead in that category in the Form Four national examinations. It is not a smooth ride, we need to work very hard,” Masegense said.

For Ahmes director Sem Mjema, the target can be achieved with determination from both teachers and students.

“With deliberate efforts by teachers to help students who are slow learners as well as motivation with is offered by the school management to teachers, we hope we can achieve our goals,” Mr Mjema said.

Teachers whose students pass their subjects with flying colours received prices, including cash up to Sh500,000. The academic master, who also teaches mathematics and computer studies went home with Sh1, 000,000 during the ceremony. In the last Form Four national examination, Ahmes got the 6th position in mathematics at the national level.

“Today we are celebrating the 10th anniversary and above all we are celebrating the good performance by students. It is not a coincidence, but this is the result of a good hard work by both students and teachers. I have no words to express my joy. I’m overwhelmed,” added Mjema.

For his part, Mr Mwinyi appealed to parents who attended the ceremony to extend their cooperation to the school management in their endeavour to offer quality education to their children and achieve their set academic targets.

“We should trust them with their words; they have kept their promises and made us all to believe in their words,” said the former President. “When I was asked to be the patron of this school, I did not hesitate. However, I gave them one condition, and that was to make me proud; at least they have achieved that,” the retired President Mwinyi added.