By Tafadzwa Chigandiwa
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has urged the government to prioritize the health and safety of teachers and pupils in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
This call came after fears of a third wave have gripped the country with doctors lamenting low vaccination turn out.
In an interview with Bustop TV, PTUZ President, Takavafira Zhou said the government should extremely consider the health of teachers and pupils before anything else that has to do with schooling.
He also said government through the Ministry of Education, rushed to open schools without ensuring that they have prepared a good healthy environment for all schools nationwide.
“As PTUZ we urge government to strictly consider the health and safety of our teachers and pupils at schools. Our humble submission as PTUZ is that schools were prematurely opened without ensuring the provision of Covid-19 abatement equipment to schools by the government as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO),” he said.
Furthermore, he bemoaned corruption that has gone rampant among the government officials, indicating that more than half of the institutions in the country have poor infrastructures due to individuals who are looting $750 million that was put aside to refurbish school’s infrastructure.
Zhou also said this has saw a number of schools having congested classes which could trigger the spread of the Covid-19 third wave.
“It is also unfortunate that the $750 million allocated to improve infrastructural development and buy other Covid abatement equipment is finding it’s way in other individual’s private pockets than filtering to schools.
“There has been no infrastructural development in schools. Above all bloated classes and overcrowded hostels have not been decongested. We have already witnessed 60 cases of Covid 19 at Prince Edward in Harare and Dove Secondary in Mberengwa,” Zhou said.
Meanwhile, government has suspended this year’s June examinations to November, Minister of Information and Publicity Monica Mutswangwa announced at a cabinet briefing that was held in Harare, Wednesday.
According to Minister Mutswangwa the suspension is to ensure that it will allow students to have ample time to focus on the November examination preparations and aid an effective focus of resources.
