The Directorate of Education in the Zambezi Region celebrated teachers, department heads, principals, and learners who performed well during the 2024 academic year.
It lauded the region's improved performance as a collective achievement.
The Zambezi Region moved from tenth to sixth place for the Grade 11 national examinations and from eighth to seventh for the Grade 12 and Advanced Subsidiary national examinations in the previous academic year.
Speaking at the Academic Excellence Awards ceremony, Deputy Director of Education Nora Munembo said the event recognises not only outstanding learners but also the vital roles of teachers, parents, and the community.
"Education is a collaboration, education is a joint venture, and education is teamwork, and that teamwork is between the parents, the learners, the schools, the regional management, and all the other stakeholders, because it is not a one-man business."
Munembo reminded learners who did not receive awards not to feel discouraged but rather to be inspired by their peers and work harder to be among the top performers in the 2026 awards.
She also applauded schools for lifting the region to sixth place nationally in the Grade 11 results, describing it as a milestone last achieved many years ago.
The Director of Education, Alex Sikume, who spoke on behalf of the Regional Governor, applauded the recipients' commitment despite challenges, including a lack of infrastructure and difficult learning environments.
"Through education, regardless of where you are, because of your attitude, you can deliver. A person in a rural area often performs much better than someone in an urban setting, where resources are more abundant. What makes that happen is because of that particular individual who has said, 'Regardless of the difficulties that I'm facing today, I'm going to make it happen.' And that's the attitude I want to encourage, and that's the attitude we have seen with many of you who have performed."
Sikume further encouraged educators to continue going the extra mile, reminding them that the future of the country depends on the learners being shaped today.
"As we go forward, let's go beyond normal; let's go an extra mile, because for me, teaching is a calling; it's not employment. Because you have the lives of our learners in your hands, you must take into account that this country, 20 years from now, will be in the hands of these learners. So this country will depend on what?"