Zimbabwean Schools Not Ready for Reopening in September and Examinations in December 2020
5 September 2020
The great question of the day after the enunciation by gvt that schools would open on 14 September for Cambridge exams and 28 September for Zimsec has been ‘Are schools ready to open?’ The bold answer is that schools are not ready and the decision to open schools was made without consultation of teacher unions and even school heads.
It is also a decision based on misrepresentation by DSIs and Directors to cabinet and will backfire. It is reflective of the Minister of Education’s lack of educational taxonomy and no wonder why he is gullible to lies and fabrication.
Minister Cain Matema, your lieutenant lied to you in June that schools were ready for exams and they have once again lied to you now, yet you seem to pride in their lies. As Ptuz we want to appraise you Honourable Minister and gvt that schools are not ready to open.
Fundamentally 95% of schools do not have covid 19 abatement equipment (testing kits, thermometers, sanitizers, masks etc) that must be acquired before schools open.
-Almost all schools have negative bank balances and have no capacity to do anything to guarantee covid 19 compliance.
-There has not been any infrastructural development and acquisition of appropriate furniture to guarantee social distance.
-There has not been recruitment of more than 50 000 teachers needed to guarantee a teacher pupil ratio of 1:20.
-The government is not forthcoming in availing funds to schools in order to combat covid 19 thereby failing to prioritise the health and safety of teachers and pupils.
-Cleaning and disinfection of schools, particularly those that have been used as quarantine centres, have not been done.
-Several schools have no running water.
-Considering the number of people tested across the country so far, gvt has no capacity to test all students, 136 000 teachers and 50 000 ancillary staff in less than two weeks.
– Course work projects for practical subjects cannot be done between opening and 1 December when students are expected to start writing their examinations.
-Preparing pupils for examination is a process and not an event and must be done rigorously, judiciously and deligently. The two months period would not be adequate for such a process, let alone coverage of syllabi.
-Underpaid, undernourished and demotivated teachers can never be motivated to inspire learners to learn effectively. It is dangerous to entrust hungry, health threatened and safety scary teachers with the management of pupils unless we want to destroy the future of such pupils.
Way Forward
– It is prudent to motivate teachers by paying them salaries that resonate with their October 2018 salaries pegged at US$520-US$550 before schools open. Any attempt to fast-track opening of schools in a commandist style will meet resistance from teachers and result in industrial disharmony which is not productive.
The restoration of teacher salaries’ purchasing power parity must be high on the agenda of reopening of schools in order to promote industrial harmony and productivity.
-Gvt must procure and place in schools Covid-19 abatement equipment before schools reopen.
-Mandatory testing of pupils, teachers and ancillary staff must be done before opening schools and education officials must stop flimsy reference to the so called June experience, which experience has no epidemiological relevance.
-Government must shelve the payment of fees for the forthcoming term as parents have been economically disarticulated during lockdown period.
-Schools also need a rescue package from gvt in order to jerk them into operability after financial haemorrhage under covid 19 period.
-Exams must be postponed to February 2021 in order to give teachers enough time to prepare students for exams and students enough time to learn and do their projects in practical subjects.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed and we would not be held responsible for any eventuality should Ministry and govt fail to give heed to our professional advice. Teachers are workers and not slaves and must be treated in a more humane manner.
Their labour rights must be respected as they are in essence arbiters of a nation’s destiny. As of now all teachers have tested positive to poverty and therefore grossly incapacitated to report for work. Only prioritisation of their welfare, health and safety can facilitate the smooth reopening of schools.
Venceremos
Dr Takavafira M. Zhou (Ptuz President)
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