Govt has not set a date for schools' re-opening, contrary to claim on WhatsApp - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
March 31, 2020
CLAIM: President Emmerson Mnangagwa has announced that schools and colleges will re-open in September. Source: WhatsApp message.
RATING: FALSE. The government has not made any announcement on when schools and colleges will re-open.
Zimbabwe’s government closed all schools and colleges on March 24, 2020, in response to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In making the announcement, President Mnangagwa said government would determine the date when schools and colleges will open again after assessing the situation. Although Mnangagwa has made a couple other subsequent announcements on measures the government is implementing to manage the situation, he has not spoken about the re-opening of schools and colleges.
Patrick Zumbo, a spokesperson in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, confirmed to ZimFact that the message circulating on WhatsApp, regarding the re-opening of schools, was fake.
“It’s not true, we are yet to be guided on when schools will open. We closed schools early because of the coronavirus and we await a directive on when to commence lessons,” Zumbo said.
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