Schools re-opening must not be rushed – PTUZ

Harare, (New Ziana) – One of the country’s biggest teacher representative bodies, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) said on Monday government must not be in a rush to re-open schools until conditions are certain that doing so will not expose learners and teachers to Covid-19.

The virus has to date killed four people in the country, with 31 confirmed cases of infection.

Government ordered schools to close earlier than scheduled late last month before the country recorded its first case on fears that the virus, which had already wrecked havoc around the world would easily spread once it got into the country.

Schools were scheduled to open for the second term on May 5.

But officials have said consultations were still underway as to when the educational institutions will open.

The PTUZ said schools must at the earliest re-open mid-July or alternatively after the winter season in August.

“We cannot put learners, teachers and stakeholders at risk of contracting the disease by opening schools now. We should wait at least until mid-July and review the situation then, in view of the fact that winter is a time of flu and other respiratory illnesses and it is easy to conflate the ordinary flues with Covid-19,” said PTUZ secretary general, Raymond Majongwe in a letter to government.

“In fact, in the worst case scenario, it may even be necessary to re-open schools post-winter, possibly in August going forward. We need to be careful about the timing of the opening of schools.”

Zimbabwe’s student and teacher population is estimated at over six million.

Majongwe said government must have met World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which demand, among other things, that disease transmission be under control and schools as well as workplaces have established preventative measures, before schools can be re-opened.

After meeting the WHO standards, a raft of other preventative measures need to be put in place as well as first ensuring teachers and learners have basic protective equipment, decongestion of classes and setting up of quarantine centres at schools.

Zimbabwe is in its last week of a nationwide lockdown, which ends on May 3, which was being implemented to curtail spread of the virus.
New Ziana