“SHAME ON US FOR FAILING TO RUN HILLCREST” – TZT.
In the pictures is a swimming pool at Zambia’s greatest pride, Hillcrest National Technical Secondary School in Livingstone.
It is called a national school because it admits the best pupils from across Zambia and expected to equip them with technical skills. It is called Hillcrest because it was constructed at a crest of a Hill.
The school as well as the pool were constructed by the colonial masters in 1956 for white children. Using Zambian resources from the mines, they built an extremely beautiful school with two storey dormitories and classrooms. They equally constructed a huge swimming pool with a deep end of about 11m. Those who could have seen it in 1956 may confirm that it was a marvel to watch.
Whites, then believed that this is how a school must look like.
Clearly the whites have a different mindset because to them, way back then, a school had to be spacious and have swimming pool facilities. That is why all the schools they built before independence have no rival 58 years later. They were beautiful and had swimming pools. No school that we constructed as a people after independence can be compared to what they left. To us swimming should be done rivers were crocodiles live.
When we got our independence and chased the whites, we started running Hillcrest. Look at how we have messed it up instead of improving it. The place looks like a war zone with little improvements to what the colonial masters left.
TZT has been reliably informed that what used to be a vibrant world class sports swimming pool is now a fish pond. The diving board still looks new and unused because nobody dared to use it after the whites left.
We have humbled the school and the buildings seem to be asking God to bring the whites back. It breaks our bones to realise that foreigners had a greater love for this school than us the locals and owners of the land. Shame on us. We are a disgrace.
How can the cream de la cream from such a hugely neglected and epitome of filthness change Zambia when they graduate? These are people breading litter in Lusaka and canonizing corruption in High places. We need change our mindset. Ubu bupuba.
©️The Zambian Times
Since I am black I can say this: I am a product of Hillcrest who went there in 1987 when whites were just beginning to leave. You could see the difference in the behaviour of the teachers between blacks and whites. The whites were tops in everything from prompt arrival ( there were no teacher houses at school), self-organization and discipline, kindness and care, feedback on individual pupil performance etc. Our black teachers were always late, stealing food and selling at home, hating well-performing pupils, poor and unresearched teaching, no record keeping…pure monkey behaviour. So don’t be surprised by what you found there. We saw it coming from way back. It’s just in our DNA. Look at who controls the wealth of this country. This should answer your question. Former 12C6 class pupil and now retired Engineer (B Eng, MBA, R.Eng, MEIZ)
It’s not only hilcrest. Name a single thing which is running well after independence apart from corruption.