Marlborough High School

Marlborough High School is a secondary school in Zimbabwe which is located in a Harare suburb called Marlborough. Marlborough is to the north of Harare City Centre and lies between the roads leading to Chinhoyi and Bindura from Harare. Marlborough High School caters for school children aged between 12 and 19 years. School children of this age will be in Forms 1 to 6 of their secondary school education.

Marlborough High School was established before the independence of Zimbabwe and it served mainly white children during the colonial period. Use of English language is compulsory at all times whilst within the school grounds. There are boarding facilities at this school which serves both boys and girls. The boarding house for boys is called Chartwell House and the house for girls is called Blenheim House. Approximately 120 boys and 120 girls are boarders. The rest of the students are not boarders and come from within the school catchment area with a few coming from other residential areas of Harare.

Marlborough High School uniform comprises navy blue short and navy blue khakhi style shirt, navy blue socks and black shoes for boys in Form 1 and 2. Form 1 and 2 girls uniform comprise light blue dresses with a navy blue wide collar, navy blue socks and black shoes. Form 3 and 4 boys wear navy blue trousers and light blue shirts with a navy blue and silver stripped tie. During the winter, girls in Form 3 and 4 girls wear navy blue skirts, light blue shirts with navy blue and silver stripped tie. Boys in Forms 5 and 6 wear navy blue trousers, white shirts and navy blue and silver stripped tie and girls in Forms 5 and 6 do wear navy blue skirts, white shirts with navy blue and silver striped ties. All students wear black shoes, navy blue socks and navy blue blazers with a school emblem on the shoulder pocket.

Marlborough High School has produced a fair share of students who proceeded with further education and enrolled at University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and other colleges in Zimbabwe and abroad.

Marlborough High School is popular in sports and its students excel in rugby, cricket, football, netball, basketball, tennis, volleyball, and athletics.

The school however, produced great sportsmen such as Hugh Hofisi who played both rugby and Basketball for the national team, Ephraim Masora, young Leeroy Mavunga who was recently signed to Caps United - Jnrs, Wishes Chiganan'ana, Panashe Dzapasi, Thandanani Mabhena and Petros Mudzengerere. Francis Mandiwanzira is also worth mentioning who excelled in soccer. Simbarashe Chikona who is a founder of Fitness Edge and a renowned fitness trainer in the United Arab Emirates, Gary Thompson who is a renowned golfer and top media personality, Addison Chiware who is one of Zimbabwe's finest basketball players and coach as well as Gerald Chipumha who was an outstanding rugby player and official with the Zimbabwe Rugby Union (ZRU) are also some of the top sportsmen produced by Marlborough High School.

Also worth mentioning are some personalities that have contributed in other spheres at national level such as Bernard Manyenyeni who is the former Mayor of Harare, Godfrey Tafadzwa Mugabe who is former Headboy of Marlborough High School and a key strategist for national security in the Government of Zimbabwe's investment efforts, Hurst Muchineripi who is the CEO and founder of Hurst Logistics (Pvt) Ltd, a company instrumental in assisting Government when the country was under siege as well as Matilda Mkomera who is a top banker in Zimbabwe.

The school authorities are however, on record of turning down efforts by Old Marlburians (the alumni) to assist the school back to its former glory. Allegations for this are centred on the administration's fear of being exposed for some underhand and corrupt dealings by some individuals in the management of the school. It has also been reported in some spheres that the Senior Mistress, who has been there for over 3 decades, has become a lone voice in trying to uphold the school's former standards even without Government support.

The current state of the school is far below that of its former days and allowing personalities like the Senior Mistress to work with the alumni, the school may hope to see its former glory days.