Preparations For The Reopening Of Schools Ongoing - Govt

The government has dispatched inspectors to schools across the country to assess their readiness to reopen for the Second Term.

This was revealed by Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa during a post-Cabinet briefing in Harare on Tuesday. She said:

With regard to primary and secondary education, the nation is advised that in preparation for the opening of schools for the Second Term, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, has instituted the following contingency measures; Inspection visits being carried out to assess the state of preparedness at all boarding schools, high enrolment day schools and schools with very limited infrastructure; Ensuring adequate WASH provisions at every school; Completion of COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control training workshops for teaching and non-teaching staff; Confirmation of COVID-19 essential supplies in all districts.

Mutsvangwa also said Cabinet resolved that exemption mechanisms (such as exemption letters), which were used during the first lockdown in 2020, will be reactivated with immediate effect.

She said visits by senior Government officials to Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Matabeleland South, Midlands and Mashonaland West established that funerals were identified as super-spreaders of COVID-19 and as a result, traditional leaders have been implored to be more forceful in the enforcement of lockdown regulations.

The report on the COVID-19 situation in the provinces also revealed that there is a shortage of PPEs, misinformation on vaccines about their alleged negative effects and a shortage of health care workers at some stations.

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