A 16-YEAR-OLD pupil from a high school on the outskirts of
Bulawayo is writing his Ordinary Level June examinations under quarantine in
Bulawayo after returning from Botswana recently.
The teenager returned to the country on Friday last week
ahead of the June Advanced and Ordinary Level examinations which started on
Tuesday.
The boy (name withheld) wrote Mathematics Paper 1 on
Wednesday at a centre in Bulawayo where he is quarantined.
The Bulawayo Covid-19 provincial task force led by Bulawayo
Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Cde Judith Ncube and the Zimbabwe
School Examinations Council (Zimsec) facilitated the writing of the exams at
the centre.
The boy could not proceed to his home or school as he has
to complete the 21-day mandatory quarantine period for returning residents
which is part of measures meant to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The number of subjects the boy is sitting could not be
established yesterday.
Bulawayo provincial social welfare officer Mr Fanwell Dzoma
said the boy was from Matabeleland South but he did not know when he travelled
to Botswana.
“We don’t have much details on him. What we do is just
receive returnees and we don’t ask them when they left the country. We don’t
know where his parents are although we are aware that he is from Matabeleland
South province,” said Mr Dzoma.
The country is receiving thousands of returnees from South
Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, United Kingdom, US and China among other
countries.
Minister Ncube said it was good that the boy’s family opted
to follow the correct channels as opposed to smuggling the minor into the
country so that he could write the examinations.
“We had this young boy, he arrived in the country on Friday
last week from Botswana and was placed under quarantine here in Bulawayo. He
came to write his June examinations but due to the laid down regulations, he
could not proceed home or to the school without spending the mandatory 21 days
at a quarantine centre,” said Minister Ncube.
She said they were informed of the boy’s predicament and
engaged both the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Zimsec.
“Arrangements were then made with Zimsec and the school to
enable the boy to fulfil his wish to write the examinations despite being under
quarantine,”said Minister Ncube.
She said all the necessary measures were taken to ensure
that the quarantine centre was conducive for the writing of the examinations.
Minister Ncube said Covid-19 regulations were being adhered
to during the writing of the exams to ensure the pupil and the invigilators
were not exposed to the virus.
She said being in a quarantine facility does not translate
to citizens’ rights being withdrawn hence her committee did its best to ensure
the boy was not denied his right to sit for the examinations.
“When you are in a quarantine centre, you are not in
prison, you are placed in a holding facility for your safety and that of your
family as well as the community. Once you are cleared of Covid-19 you then join
your family without endangering their lives. The measure is meant to reduce the
risk of Covid-19 transmission from those coming from outside the country,” she
said.
Zimsec spokesperson Ms Nicky Dlamini said Government has
come up with a special arrangement for quarantined candidates to sit for June
examinations within quarantine facilities.
“We facilitate the writing of their examinations from
quarantine centres. Those who are under self-isolation or house isolation, the
Ministry of Health and Child Care assists but I don’t think we have candidates
that are under self-isolation,” said Ms Dlamini. Chronicle
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