FRESH and moving details have unfolded on Simiyu wizkid Yohana Lameck (19) who passed form four examinations with flying colours as new revelations indicate that the his neighbours never knew he was studying.
In the results released last Thursday by the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA), Yohana from Igaganulwa Secondary School in Bariadi District of Simiyu Region scored A in all nine subjects, emerging with Division One of 7 points.
Despite coming from a poor family and havingstudied in a ward school which many people don’t associate with good performance, the boy left Tanzanians perplexed with neighbours saying they always saw him performing manual work to earn a living for his family.
One of the neighbours Mr Mpemba Kangele, who has been offering Yohana and his mother part time jobs says he perceived the boy just as any other street boy whose future was indeterminate.
I have never seen him going to school; he was always boy, quiet and secretive; it was around September last year when I realised that there was a student from my neighbourhood who was attending the academic camp that was initiated by the Regional Commissioner Mr Anthony Mtaka,” said Mr Kangele, adding that he only knew after results were out that the boy was schooling.
He added: “As a neighbour I’m so proud to have him here; he has surprised all of us, our village is now well known because of him.”
Another mystery is that though Kiswahili has always been the easiest subject forcandidates from primary to A level, to Yohana, it was the most difficult, his teacher Mr Baraka Musa revealed to the ‘Daily News’ in an exclusive interview here yesterday.
The teacher narrated that Kiswahili subject has been a major challenge for Yohana and performance was the result of encouragement and support that he got from him.
Mr Musa described Yohana as a well-disciplined student who has a sharp mind to learn and adopt positive things.
“There was a time in 2018 when he scored 54 per cent in Kiswahili test, which I considered low and prompted me to talk to him, and he promised that he will make it. In the second paper he scored A and this was after my intervention after learning that he performed well in other subjects save for Kiswahili. After encouraging him, he sustained the trend; I am so proud of him,” explained the teacher.
Yohana told this paper that he wishes to pursue his advanced education in one of the government owned schools such as Mzumbe Secondary School of Morogoro Region, Kibaha boys (Coast region), Ilboru (Arusha) and Tabora Boys Secondary School in Tabora region.
The boy, who is now the talk of the town believes that public schools can offer better and quality education basing on the fact that he is from the same schools that haven’t been considered by most parents who are capable of affording the costs in private schools.
“I’m still admiring government schools, there are nice teachers who can make wonders; a good example is teachers who taught me here, they treated me well, giving me moral and material support, I believe that teachers of this kind are everywhere,” he stressed, adding that for private schools he fancies studying in Feza Schools.
In future, he is aspiring to become a doctor with a view to saving people’s lives. His performance started way back in primary school as he also scored grade A in the national examination results.
The head teacher of Igaganulwa Primary School where Yohana studied, Mr Buzinza Taburo, told the ‘Daily News’ that Yohana was bright and very helpful as he was also teaching other pupils in class.
“He is a well-focused and determined boy, the only challenge he was facing was financial support to cover the cost of his studies, we did our part and the result are as you can see,” he said, the sentiments beingechoed by the Headmaster of Igaganulwa Secondary School, Mr Emelius Emmanuel.
The headmaster taught him physics and mathematics, he says, and was so surprised to see a student scoring 87 per cent in mathematics without deleting or cancelling the answers.
“This caught my all attention on him, only to realise that he has had an outstanding performance from primary school,” he said, adding that he also scored 7 points in his form two national examinations results.
Yohana’s mother, Ms Masalu Lulyalya despite being happy for the performance of his son, has asked the government to support her financially so that she can be able to afford the cost of living.
