By Sukuoluhle Ndlovu
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) is calling upon the government to allocate more resources to the education sector as this will fight the potential of Covid -19 outbreak in schools.
Most of the Covid -19 outbreak cases in schools are being linked to community transmission as the communities are no longer adhering to Covid -19 preventative guidelines.
People are relaxing as they now think Covid -19 has disappeared into thin air.
ZIMCODD in their weekly review is of the view that there are enough funds to support the education sector.
“We note that Zimbabwe has enough resources to meet the needs of the education sector if resources are not leaking through illicit financial flows, corruption, tax evasion and if unjustifiable tax exemptions are recovered and reinvested in the declining education system.
“Covid -19 outbreak in schools are an important public health problem given children can be asymptomatic carriers with the capacity to infect their older family members resulting in severe disease and possibly death,” noted ZIMCODD.
The report also added that a supplementary budget must be considered to strengthen the education sector.
“Government is urged to consider a supplementary budget to strengthen schools’ ability to comply with WHO guidelines. A parliament led inquiry into the use and distribution of the ZWL600 million schools reopening budget is vital to restore public confidence. Government has perennially been under spending on education. This has reduced the capacity of our education system to withstand the impacts of the Covid -19 pandemic.
“The ZWL600 million schools reopening budget is vastly inadequate to address the back to school needs of Zimbabwean learners and ensure adequate preparation for exam classes,”
“The marginalized communities has been largely affected by the yearlong disruption to education the continued reduction in access to education for children will worsen poverty and inequality as the key to unlock poverty is through education.
One primary schools teacher, said the resources must be mostly allocated to the rural schools and it will liven up the education for the marginalized communities and be provided with all the necessary equipments for usage at school so as to bridge the gap between the urban and the rural communities as the pass rate in the rural communities is no below average as each term passes,” he said.
Just last week, three schools in Esigodini’s Matabeleland South province were hit by Covid-19 and 55 cases were reported in one day.
