2013 results: Best students attribute success to discipline, hard work

Parents, students and teachers of various schools that excelled in last year’s national examinations received the results yesterday with joy, attributing their success to discipline and hard work.At Kigali Parents School, a private primary school in Kimironko, Gasabo District, that produced four out of the top 10 students in the country, parents and former students gathered at the school to celebrate.Kigali Parents School produced the first, second, fourth and tenth top students in the country.Patience Murekezi Ihirwe, 14, the top student in last year’s examinations showed up to school yesterday afternoon accompanied by his father on receiving the news.“I was not always the top performer in class, it took a lot of hardwork and constant revision to get the position. It also took a lot of personal discipline and self motivation to keep revising even after school hours; I would at times stay up till 10 pm reading and get back to books as early as 5 am.”Murekezi said discipline and hard work did not stop him from engaging in co-curricular activities as work without play makes students dull.“I am a football player and fan of Chelsea FC, being focused should not hold one back from engaging in co-curricular activities.”The star performer who hopes to be a civil engineer is looking to join Nu Vision High school.Denis Shyaka Gasasira another top performer who emerged fourth countrywide wasn’t surprised by the results and neither was his father, Stephen Gasasira who had accompanied him to school.“Following the teachers’ guidance, maintaining discipline duringrevision and believing in God got me the positive results. The school provided an environment conducive which we took advantage of.”Though he is not sure of what career he would want to take, Shyaka says at some point he would want to follow his father’s footsteps to become an entrepreneur.“I drew inspiration from my elder brother who topped in the 2007national examinations,” he said looking up at the portrait of his brother, Derrick Shema that hangs in the principal’s office. Christella Annie Ihoza the only girl on the top 10 list and without a role model told The New Times that she hopes to be a doctor when she grows.The visibly excited 13 year old said that the results had come as a surprise “doing well requires no special trick or skill, if you areconsistent and keen on what you want you can make it. You have to be positive and have a goal set.”She said she hopes to continue being an inspiration to girls and prove to them that they too as well can compete with boys and emerge top candidates.Parents of the top performers who accompanied them to school said that involvement in their children’s progress played a huge role in the students’ good performance. They said that paying fees and buying material is not enough, students require s emotional support too.Stephen Gasasira, father of the fourth student countrywide advised parents to have an active role in the education of their children by wanting to know how they are fairing often and motivating them further.“With the numerous duties, at times parents get too busy to monitor and check on their students’ performance. They assume that by purchasing materials and paying fees it is up to the teachers to do the rest. By following up on student performance, students feel more encouraged and in turn do more.”His sentiments were echoed by the top performers’ father, Murekezi Gaspard who said that the value positive results are not always by financial investments but by cooperation between parents, teachers and students.The institution’s Principal Charles Mutazihana said the school’s reputation as a top performer comes from a number of factors including covering the syllabus in time to leave time for students to revise.“We also have pastoral programmes where we cater for individual students needs. To ensure that the positive performance is not at the expense of students’ social life, we ensure they participate in extracurricular activities like sports and debates. To keep replicating such results we are constantly engaging parents.”Well Springs Academy which for the first time had their student ranked on the list of top 10 performers in the Ordinary Level examinations is another institution that received news of good performance with joy.The school’s principal Martine Muhongayire Kagabo said the extra efforts they have been putting in were finally paying off. “The school’s hero Joshua Ishimwe Magezi, who is looking to become a civil engineer said support from family, school and fellow students was to thank for his performance. “I believed in good all through, the results did not come as a surprise.”

National

2013 results: Best students attribute success to discipline, hard work