AUTHORITIES at schools and colleges, including parents are
expected to meet and come up with plans that will determine when they can
resume classes especially for pupils and students sitting for public
examinations this year.
The plans, would, however, need to be approved first by the
Government through the respective ministries in consultation with the Ministry
of Health and Child Care. President Mnangagwa yesterday said public examination
classes and final year students at colleges and universities would be allowed
to open only after adhering to the stipulated Covid-19 prevention measures.
Clarifying the matter, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Mr Nick Mangwana told
Sunday News that the directive was not a one-size-fits-all, but individual
schools and universities were expected to provide a detailed plan in terms of
their strategy of preventing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic before they
are allowed to re-open. He said stakeholders would be required to engage each
other in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to see that
they comply with all the necessary Covid-19 requirements.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach, what needs to
happen is that between the school authorities, the school development councils
and the ministry officials, they will need to sit down and come out with a
framework, an agreed plan on how they want to open. After these stakeholders
meet, they then present their plans to the relevant ministries to discuss the
plan, if the plan is agreeable, they can then be allowed to open because
circumstances that apply to individual institutions are different,” said Mr
Mangwana.
He said emphasis was on the need to prevent the spread of
the coronavirus and ensure that all institutions put in place measures to
protect their students from the pandemic. Meanwhile, Minister of Primary and
Secondary Education, Cain Mathema said plans for the sitting of June and
November Zimsec examinations were at an advanced stage, noting that the
President’s statement reaffirmed their position.
“The President’s address reaffirms our position that we are
ready to have the June and November examinations. What will happen now is that
we will meet and give the necessary announcement in due course. Schools should,
however, ensure that as students sit and prepare for these examinations, they
should adhere to the Covid-19 regulations in terms of social distancing and
sanitization,” said Minister Mathema.
The Government directed the closure of schools a week
before the official closing date for the first term as means of controlling the
spread of the pandemic. Sunday News
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