Online Reporter
Latwell Nyangu
A 12-YEAR-OLD boy skipped Form One during the first term and shifted focus to home schooling before passing four of the six subjects in his Cambridge Ordinary Level examinations — just seven months later.
Divine Samuriwo turns 13 on Saturday.
He skipped his Form One class after just one term.
A few months later, he sat for the November Cambridge examinations and passed four of his six subjects.
He scored an A in commerce and Bs in Business Studies, Economics and Accounts a D in English and an E in Maths.
He dreams of becoming a chartered accountant. Divine is currently doing a diploma in ACCA, running concurrently with his Advanced Level studies.
His parents even went with him to Zanzibar to celebrate before the O-Level results were even out.
“I decided to drop out of Form One after realising that the route was too long to get to Form Four. With the support of my parents, I then started home schooling, preparing for the O-Level exams.
“I didn’t want some of the subjects which were not in line with my dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant. With the support of my father, mother, teacher, Lesley and Banda, it went very well.’
He added:
“I also used video learning as well as using the internet.”He said he was inspired by Maud Chifamba, among other academic gems.
“To imagine sitting for four years, I said no. Maud inspired me and I had to invest in home schooling which paid off.
“It was difficult in the first place but, with the support I got I pushed. I only failed Maths and English.
“I read six hours per day and I have time to socialise but not as the other kids. I want to be my own boss at some stage after I gain experience at an audit firm.”
His mother Pauline, who is a marketing expert, said:
“He is coming from a pool of academics and we teased him to also follow the footsteps of people like Maud Chifamba.
“We had to push him to work on his own so that he also became someone who didn’t have to wait for four years to finish Ordinary Level.
“He is a resourceful person, he reads a lot of stuff and we support him with more content.
“We are happy that he passed because to us it was not a loss since we wanted him to just try it.
“We would look for resources as well as the support of the teachers. He did a lot of research on the profession of his dreams,” she said.
Pauline added:
“Both our children want to tap from what we do. We took Divine to Zanzibar before the results were out as a celebration for his dedication to home schooling.”
His father Denmark, who is an accountant and a former banker, said:
“He believed in himself after offering him that he could do this. As parents, we saw potential in him and helped him pursue what he wanted.
“After the first term, we advised him to drop out of Form One since he was complaining that the subjects were not inclined to his dream.
“He is studying for a diploma in ACCA as well as simultaneously doing his A-Level.
“We have a culture of reading in our family and he picked it from there but we want him to pursue his dreams with our support.
“We believe in knowledge rather than results and I am happy that he managed to score this big. It means, he can do better if he reads again.”
