Other pupils will only return to class in another phased
approach with some classes especially Form One expected to start school as late
as February 2021.
Those going into Form One, who are Grade Seven this year,
started writing public examinations last week on Thursday and will only finish
on 17 December.
Those writing Ordinary level examinations will have some of
their papers overlapping into early next year.
Other non-examination classes will close this term on 18
December and initially the Government had indicated that schools will then
reopen on 4 January 2021.
However, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education
Director of Communications, Mr Taungana Ndoro, told Sunday News yesterday that
the ministry will employ the same method of phased opening of schools next year
as a way of decongesting and further implementing the Standard Operation
Procedures.
He said only pupils who have not finished writing their
public examinations will return on 4 January to finish the papers while phased
dates for other classes will be announced in due course.
“We are opening schools on January 4 2021 to allow the
Ordinary Level candidates to finish their examinations. Other returning pupils
will have to come in February most probably after the Form 4 students finish
their examinations,” he said.
Mr Ndoro said Grade Seven results will be released early
next year but definitely before 31 January. This comes as the ministry will
tomorrow open the online application platform for Form One pupils wishing to be
enrolled into boarding schools next year.
The Government introduced the Form One online application
in 2016 for boarding schools to plug profiteering by some schools who were
making parents pay for entrance tests.
Most schools were now conducting their own assessments for
pupils and make them sit for entrance tests after paying money, rendering Grade
Seven examinations irrelevant.
Some schools would call many prospective pupils for
interviews when they could only enrol a few classes.
“We expect the Grade 7 results to be out before January 31.
The Form 1 pupils will enrol after the Ordinary level candidates have finished
their examinations. The idea is to continue decongesting our schools and
following the Standards Operation Procedures amid the Covid-19 pandemic. We
will have a phased schools reopening,” said Mr Ndoro.
According to a circular released last week by the Ministry
of Primary and Secondary Education, the online platform will run from tomorrow
to 31 January.
Under the method, pupils have to apply through the
Electronic Ministry’s Application Platform (EMAP) where an applicant is allowed
to place three applications at each given time although there is room for the
upward review of the number of applications accepted until the closing date.
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will be
launching online the Electronic Ministry’s Application Platform (EMAP) for Form
1 boarding place enrolment from Monday 7th of December to January 31 2021.
An applicant is allowed to have three maximum active
applications at any given time in order to decongest traffic on the platform.
The schools will notify the successful applicants through sms. Once offered a
place by a school an applicant can decline it and once declined a place cannot
be reclaimed back.
The enrolment will start after the official publication of
the 2020 Grade 7 Zimsec results,” reads a statement from the ministry.
This year, following premature closure of schools in March
as a preventive measure against Covid-19, the Government introduced a phased
approached to schools opening where Phase One of the reopening was on 28
September and was meant for the Grade 7s, Forms 4 and Upper Sixth followed by
Grade 6, Form 3 and 5s on 26 October under the second phase.
In Phase Three, schools opened on 9 November 2020 with the
rest of the learners which covered ECD A and B, grade 1,2,3,4,5 and Forms 1 and
2. However, an industrial action by most teachers affected learning resulting
in the Government taking a decision to postpone some of the public examinations
into next year.
Reopening of schools were, however, affected when about 300
schoolchildren at various schools contracted the virus.
Mr Ndoro said the disease has been contained at most
schools with 50 percent recoveries recorded in the past few weeks.
The hardest hit school was John Tallach High in
Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North Province where about 185 pupils and teachers
tested positive. However, the situation has since been contained. Sunday News
0 comments:
Post a Comment