Tegwani/ Thekwane / the Hammerkop
Thekwane High School is a boarding school situated 14 km North of Plumtree town in Bulilima district of Matabeleland Province in Zimbabwe. Plumtree town is 10 km from the Botswana Boarder, on the western side of Zimbabwe. It is an institution under the authority of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe.
Our Vision
To provide a holistic environment and offer an exceptionally diverse curriculum which produces a person fit for the changing word.
MISSION STATEMENT
To mould righteous citizens by providing a high quality and relevant secondary education and to be a beacon of high Christian and Methodist ethics.
CORE VALUES
Integrity, accountability, excellence, responsibility, professionalism, transparency, stewardship, teamwork, honesty, flexibility, equality and fairness.
MOTTO
Qondani ekukhanyeni
The school was established on 12 May, 1924 by Herbert Carter, a Methodist missionary. At its inception, it was called Tegwani, a corrupt form of the name Thekwane (the Hammerkop), a bird which was abundant in the place then.
The school started as a primary school with only 6 boys and two teachers, Rev. Herbert Carter and Evangelist Thomas Dima. The enrolment of boys increased until the early 1930s, when girls were first enrolled. Mrs E. Lince was the first boarding matron. In late 1929, Mr W. Tregidgo came from the West Coast to start a teacher training department.
On 6 December 1941, Herbert Carter dedicated the first chapel. The students assisted in the building of the chapel. Then in 1947 a building course was started. From that time students built a number of structures in the institution including teachers’ cottages that are in to date.
Secondary school was started in 1951, with Mr Griffiths Malaba being the first Headmaster of the school. Rev G. E. Hay Pluke was the Principal. In 1955 the first Form 5 class took South African Matriculation examinations. However, in 1957 they turned to Cambridge School Examinations. The school has not looked back up to present day. Heads and pricipals have changed until the present day Principal, Rev. Nkosilathi Ndlovu and Head, Mr Salani Ndlovu.
Teacher training was terminated in 1968 with the amalgamation of churches that offered the same course to form the United College of Education in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. This college came about as a realization that rural training schools run by churches were inadequately resourced to produce a fully ledged teacher. The churches that amalgamated were: Methodist Church, Church of Christ, Anglican Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Roman Catholic Church, Salvation Army and United Congregational Church of Southern Africa.
Integrity, accountability, excellence, responsibility, professionalism, transparency, stewardship, teamwork, honesty, flexibility, equality and fairness.