Reopening Zimbabwe's schools under COVID-19: Factors to consider - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
May 19, 2020
The Zimbabwe government is looking at how schools can be reopened as safely as possible without exposing students and staff to high levels of contracting COVID-19.
No dates have been given, but Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa says the immediate priority is ensuring that examination classes begin “in the shortest possible time.”
What are the key issues facing the authorities as they consider reopening the schools?
Zimbabwe is still in a partial national lockdown at what the government calls Level 2, where some industries and businesses are allowed to operate under rules requiring the provision of a safe working environment, face masks, social or physical distancing and arrangements for the testing for COVID-19.
Many schools have large classes and crowded conditions, and before schools are opened, the government must spell out how the numbers will be managed to minimise the rate of transmission if there is an infection at any establishment.
In some schools the classes are so crammed that students sit shoulder-to-shoulder, and these will need to be split to implement social distancing.
There are no secure water supplies at many schools and this will need to be fixed for the maintenance of clean sanitation facilities, including toilets, sinks and bathrooms.
Reliable and safe transport,where physical distancing can be implemented, will need to be organised andmanaged for thousands of students who normally travel to school in crowded minibuses mostly from heavily populated townships in Zimbabwe’s major cities.
Beyond the safety of students andteaching staff, schools will need personal protective clothing for otherworkers, including cleaners and gardeners, those managing food and kitchens atboarding schools and working at school clinics.
Below are the teacher-to-pupil-ratiosin Zimbabwe according to the 2018
primary and secondary education annual statistics report