Wellton Schools: making a mark in Beitbridge
Ellen Mlambo
Two Nations Editor
BEITBRIDGE – Started in 2009, Wellton Group of Schools is making a mark in Beitbridge.
The school has several unique features as it is the only one in Beitbridge District that is offering boarding facilities for primary school children, it is also the only one that offers Cambridge Examinations at primary school level.
The school’s boarding facilities have allowed it to have an international impact as it has drawn pupils from South Africa. Local pupils come from as far as Gwanda, Bulawayo, Filabusi and the school authorities are inviting pupils from any part of Zimbabwe and indeed the region to enroll.
Wellton also offers scholarships to pupils who excel and pays school fees for them until they complete their studies at the school.
Pass rates have been 100% over the years and teacher to pupil ratio is maintained at 1:25. The group of schools has a total of 32 ECD, Primary and Secondary school teachers.
The Group’s remarkable achievements are not without endorsement. In 2018, Wellton Primary scooped the Secretary’s Merit Ward, the most prestigious and envied badge of recognition in the education sector.
In the same year, Wellton Primary came third in the National Debate Competitions sponsored by CBZ Bank.
Wellton offers the first and only tertiary college in Beitbridge.
There is also no doubt that Wellton is the only school in the district that offers a full range of sports facilities as children can choose from the range of the usually considered elite sports like rugby, tennis, hockey, swimming and cricket. The school has one of the biggest swimming pools in Beitbridge, a 25-yard pool with 8 lanes.
Two Nations Editor Ellen Mlambo visited the school this week and had a chat with the administrators and some members of the school board.
Wellton Group which is undoubtedly the biggest privately run school in Beitbridge comprises of four specific entities which are Wellton Kids Centre, Wellton Primary, Wellton Secondary and Wellton Tertiary College. The plans according to Thulani Moyo and his wife Josephine who are the directors and founders of the Group of Schools is to start a University in the near future.
The School is situated at a spacious location some 3km out of Beitbridge CBD where it occupies a total of 97 0000 square metres with 55 000 being taken by the primary school, 34 000 by the secondary school and 8 000 square metres is occupied by the tertiary institution.
Started with an enrolment of only 10 ECD kids in 2009, Wellton grew phenomenally over the last decade and now has a total enrolment of 498 with 378 pupils at primary school, 60 at ECD Centre and 60 Secondary students.
Wellton is still to be registered as a center for any external examination boards for O and A Level but the administrators confirmed that applications for that have since been submitted with Zimsec and Cambridge.
The Tertiary College offers courses with the Commercial Management (ICM), UK Board from certificate to post-graduate and HEXCO courses from National Foundation Certificates to National Diplomas. The courses have been running since 2017.
In 2011, the school applied for land from Beitbridge Town Council for the construction of the Primary school which they were allocated the following year. Construction work began in earnest in 2013 and a license was acquired and operations started in January 2014 .
The school qualified as a ZIMSEC Centre for Grade 7 examinations in 2016 and the candidates rose from 10 to 64 pupils in 2021.
The acting school head for Wellton Primary is Patricia Moyo. She said that she is impressed with the school’s all round good performance from academic, sports to public debates and other activities.
She added that sports are taken very seriously in the school.
“We take pride in our sterling performance since the school started operating. We have managed to maintain a 100 percent pass rate since we started operating. We are also enjoying remarkable growth as a school,” said Moyo. https://twonations.co.zw
