Gerald is a quiet, shy boy and has been attending Matula Secondary School. But because his home is far from the school he spends a long time each day walking to and from school making it hard to study as by the time he gets home it can be getting dark and his home has no electricity.
Since first applying to Project Luangwa for help he has been back and forth between his village, his school and the Project Luangwa office many times. Initially it was to get his school to produce the correct paperwork but since putting him on the website he has kept returning to check if anyone has chosen to help him go to school.This shows how keen he is to continue his education as his village is in Jumbe Chiefdom and around 50 kilometres away from our office. He does this journey by bicycle but as it is the rainy season and as he has no coat he often arrives home very wet.
For grades 1 to 7 Gerald attended a local primary school just 5 minutes’ walk from his home.It was at this school that he sat for his Certificate of Primary Education exams and passed with an excellent composite score of 743. For the next three years he attended Matula Secondary School close to Mfuwe airport but this entailed a long daily journey often taking two hours each way. It was here that he sat for his Certificate of Junior Secondary exams and passed up to Grade 10. Throughout last year he struggled with the long journey to and from school, a longer school day and more and more homework- hard to do when you reach home late and there is no electricity at your house. So when Gerald applied to us we talked with him about going into boarding at Mfuwe. He may have to repeat grade 10 if his subjects do not match but he says that he does not mind this as he will be able to get a better understanding as well as it being easier to study. His parents and the school agreed and he has been offered a place at Mfuwe Day Secondary School. We hope that without the hours spent walking to and from school that his grades will greatly improve. Here are his results for his end of term tests for last year:
Gerald Banda | Term 1 | Term 2 | Term 3 | ||||||
Marks % | Grade | class Av | Marks % | Grade | Class Av | Marks | Grade | class Av | |
Mathematics | 58 | 5 | 63 | 4 | 71 | 2 | |||
English | 44 | 7 | 27 | F | 47 | 7 | |||
Biology | 70 | 2 | 56 | 5 | 69 | 3 | |||
Science | 64 | 4 | 52 | 6 | 64 | 4 | |||
Commerce | 70 | 2 | 23 | F | 46 | 7 | |||
P Accts | 64 | 4 | 67 | 3 | 68 | 3 | |||
Civic Edu | 64 | 4 | 60 | 4 | 58 | 5 | |||
Geog | 68 | 3 | 47 | 7 | |||||
Marks & av % | 502 | 63% | 348 | 44% | 470 | 59% | |||
Aggregate (best 6 inc Eng) | 400 | 325 | 377 |