THE 5 300 teachers recently engaged to beef up staff at schools following Government’s decision to reduce classes to maximum of 30 pupils to allow for social distancing start work today.
The last group of pupils that include Early Childhood
Development ECD A and ECD B, Grade One to Five and Form One and Two classes are
reopening today.
The schools reopened in phases starting with examination
classes which are Grade Seven, Form Four and Six which reopened in September
and this was followed by Grade Six, Form Three and Five last month.
Schools were closed in March as part of Government’s
measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education director of
communications Mr Taungana Ndoro said schools are ready for the reopening of
the last group of pupils today.
He said the Provincial Education Directors (PEDs) and their
teams will be monitoring activities in schools to make sure that there is
compliance to Government regulations.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education devised the
Standard Operating Procedures to guide safe reopening of schools in view of the
Covid-19 pandemic.
“As a Ministry we are ready for the third and last phase of
the reopening of schools. This phase will see the last group of classes which
are ECD A, B, Grades One to Five and Form One and Two reopening. It is all all
systems go from the reports so far received from regions across the country. We
have put in place modalities to make sure the schools reopen,” he said.
Mr Ndoro said schools that do not have adequate classrooms
have been advised to have morning and afternnon classes so that they adhere to
the requirements of a maximum of 30 pupils per class to allow for social
distancing.
He said Government has also directed PEDs to monitor
teachers’ attendance and those that do not report for duty will be disciplined.
“Teachers will fill in attendance registers which will be
taken to provinces before they are forwarded to the Head Office,” said Mr
Ndoro.
The Public Service Commission directed the education
Ministry to take action against teachers who have not been reporting for work
since schools reopened in September. The PSC said the ministry should apply the
principle of “no work no pay”.
Yesterday parents with children attending boarding schools
welcomed Government’s decision to reopen schools even for a short period.
A Chronicle news crew visited some of the schools pick up
points such as City Hall Car Park where pupils showed excitement over the
schools reopening.
In Gweru, schools such as Regina Mundi High School, Chaplin
High School, Fletcher High School, Anderson High School and Stanley Primary
School received their last group of boarders.
Although under the SOP, hugging is banned, the learners
hugged each other, claiming they had not seen each other for a long time. Parents
who spoke to the news crew said they were worried about their children’s
education.
Mr Thembani Moyo with a child a Solusi High School said it
was good that the children were returning to school.
“It’s pointless for them to remain at home because time is
moving while they are not attending clsasses.
“They should go to school even if its just for a month but
the fees being demanded are too high given that they will only be there for
just a month,” said Mr Moyo.
Another parent Mr Mthabisi Moyo with a child at the same
school said school authorities have to be more vigilant to ensure pupils attend
classes.
“These children have learnt a lot of things which are
morally wrong during their extended stay at home. Our hope is that they will
not try to experiment some of these ills when they are now at school. However,
we feel that it is good that the children return to school,” said Mr Moyo.
Mrs Noma Sibindi said she fully supported the idea of
reopening of schools though it’s only one month left.
“It’s good that schools are reopening for the last group of
pupils. Lives cannot stop because we have Covid-19. It was created by us, life
has to go on and we have to learn to live under the new normal with the
pandemic. The children have to go back to school even for this short period,”
said Mrs Sibindi.
Some of the parents said their worry was that some teachers
might not report for work resulting in their children being idle when they have
paid fees. Chronicle
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