Yes, Attendance Can Be Motivated: Tapiwanashe’s Journey at Rubweruchena Secondary

My name is Tapiwanashe Musoni, and I am a Fifth Cohort fellow with Teach For Zimbabwe. I am a non-teacher fellow, placed at Rubweruchena Secondary School.

Since the beginning of this term, I have worked tirelessly with my learners to produce good results and bring positive change not only to them but also to the surrounding community. As a classroom practitioner, I quickly identified two major challenges, especially among the Form Fours: irregular school attendance and limited participation in class.

To address participation, I embraced participatory learning — encouraging learners to give presentations and engage in group work on critical topics. Sometimes, I would even sit among them as a learner while one of them took the teacher’s role. It was humorous, but more importantly, it motivated them to engage with the lesson wholeheartedly. With guidance from my senior colleagues, I also improved my own communication by ensuring I always faced learners while speaking, instead of talking while writing on the chalkboard. This small change made classroom interaction far more effective.

Attendance, however, was the greatest hurdle. Many learners stayed away, forcing me to repeat lessons. To address this, I introduced creative solutions. Together with other teachers, we organized a feeding program using maize harvested from the school garden. Knowing that learners loved sports, I also maximized my role as a football coach to encourage daily attendance. I ensured lessons were conducted effectively before feeding and sports time. These two strategies significantly improved attendance and learning consistency.

As the Form Four History teacher, I discovered that learners had missed out on history lessons in Form Three. The gap was huge, but I committed myself to filling it. I began offering free weekend lessons every Saturday. At first, only three learners attended. Unfortunately, the overall number of Form Fours decreased from ten to seven, but six of them now attend weekend lessons regularly. Their commitment has been strengthened by my close communication with their parents.

I also recognized that many of my learners struggled with ICT skills, particularly when I introduced topics such as electronic media in Form Two Heritage Studies. To close this gap, I began bringing my personal laptop to class, teaching learners how to use it for academic purposes. This practical approach made it much easier for them to understand and engage with the subject.

Every day has been a learning journey for me as well. These challenges have stretched me, but they have also shown me the power of creativity, collaboration, and persistence in ensuring that every child has access to quality education.