Multichoice Africa and Eutelsat empowering students

Gerald Ngonyamo (left), Tanaka Khondowe, Liz Dziva and Hellenic Academy Head Mark Albertyn

FOR the second year running a Zimbabwean student has won a major prize in an international competition organised by MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat.
The annual DStv Eutelsat Awards competition was created to stimulate interest in science and technology in general and satellites in particular, and features a section for poster entries and another for essays.

The winner of the latest edition of the competition, run late last year was Mallon Marume, a student of Mutare Boys’ High School, who was honoured as winner of the poster competition ahead of thousands of entries from all over Africa.
He was presented with his award at a ceremony at the school, and will be taking up his prize of a trip to Eutelsat in Paris and satellite construction site.
Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe, said: “We were delighted with a high number of entries from across Zimbabwe for this competition, in both categories, and we were doubly pleased that yet again a Zimbabwean student has featured as a continental winner, proving that we Zimbabweans can achieve success in any given forum. To have two continental winners in two consecutive years is a huge achievement for the students, their schools and the country as a whole”.
A presentation ceremony was held at Mutare Boys’ High School, where Mallon received the congratulations of the guest of honour, regional director of education Edward Shumba.
Speaking at the event, Shumba said: “ May I start by commending the partners in the competition, MultiChoice Africa and Eutelsat Communications, for having initiated it and for providing the resources needed to make it an effective and successful competition that facilitates learning and development, especially in the field of science and technology. I would like also to commend MultiChoice Zimbabwe for having done so much to support this pan-African initiative at a national level, with the support of a number of stakeholders, including schools, the media and parents of young people at school”.
“An important feature of our national educational policy has been the emphasis placed on creating interest among young Zimbabweans in the field of science and technology, so that they can take advantage of evolving technologies to improve their own lives and the overall life of the nation, and also so that our young people can become creators and innovators, perhaps even inventors of new technologies that change the world,” he said
He also said technological change were occurring at a rate that would have been unthinkable even just a few decades ago.

“Today’s leading edge technology is tomorrow’s historical fact, and Zimbabwe must be cognisant of this as we carve a forward path for all our people, especially the millions of young people who are the future of our country,” he said.
“Technology must be harnessed by our educational infrastructure to serve the purposes of growth and development and our educational institutions must have access to the technology that will place our young people on an equal footing with their peers all over the world. If the future is to be one in which developing nations rise to the status of developed nations, then this will be on the back of understanding, embracing and utilising technology for local, national and international benefit. Progress will result from effective and efficient use of technology”.

From left Beverly Saungweme,Mallon Marume and Steven Matondo

“Satellite technology, which is at the core of the competition we are celebrating today, is already bringing benefits to Zimbabwe and its people, providing the extension of communication to even the remotest of communities. This will continue to develop and we look forward to the improvement and enhancement of lives, as well as the fostering of economic development of people, communities and the whole nation through utilising technology to effect such improvement and enhancement. We look forward to the day when every Zimbabwean student, whether rural or urban, has access to the newest technology and thereby has a chance to compete with any other student across the globe on the basis of equal access.
“I am excited to see students taking such an active and unhindered interest in science and technology, and to witness a growing recognition that science and technology is a stimulus to change and development, as well as to Zimbabwe’s unimpeded march towards a future that offers success to all its people. I would like to congratulate all the participants in this competition, especially the winners and runners-up at country level and most especially the remarkable young Zimbabwean who has earned honour for himself, his family, his school and the whole country by winning one of the awards at continental level. I would also like to thank the staff of the schools they attend for the support and encouragement given to these students.
“The concept and execution of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards is worthy of commendation and emulation and I extend my personal encouragement to everyone involved for its continued roll-out and to seeing more Zimbabweans taking a central position on the winners’ podium.”
At a separate ceremony held at Hellenic Academy in Harare a few days before, one of the recipients of a DStv Eutelsat award at country level received a prize. The full list of students in Zimbabwe who were winners in the 2015 DStv Eutelsat competition:
Continental winner – poster category: Mallon Marume, Mutare Boys’ High School.
Winner of the poster category at country level: Mallon Marume, while the runner-up at this level was Steve Matondo of Hartzell High School, Mutare.
Winner of the essay category at country level: Tanaka Khondowe of Hellenic Academy in Harare, while the runner-up at this level was Beverley Saungweme of Hartzell High School, also in Mutare.
Mutare Boys’ High School received a satellite dish, television, DStv decoder and a smartcard enabling viewing of the DStv education bouquet, as a result of Mallon Marume’s achievement.

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