Progressive Teachers Union Of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) President, Mr Takavafira Zhou says any rushed decision to the reopening of schools would be suicidal as the government is not yet ready.
In an interview with 263 Times Mr Zhou said there should not be any rush in the reopening of schools since there is no substantial evidence that Covid -19 cases are decreasing.
“So many people have not been tested and the decrease can be legitimized by testing and vaccination of many people. WHO reflect that we can control Covid -19 by vaccinating 65% of the population. As of now the number of people vaccinated is less than 7%,” he said.
Schools were closed on June 4 and was supposed open for the second term on June 28 however the holidays were extended to to a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Furthermore, Mr Zhou said the government should scale up the acquisition of Covid 19 vaccines before schools re opened.
“We urge government to scale up the acquisition of Covid 19 vaccines, open many vaccination centers and vaccinate more people before making a suicidal attempt to open schools,” said Mr Zhou.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is yet to announce the date for schools opening.
Moreover, Mr Zhou said schools must drill boreholes since there is no source of water and distribution of Covid-19 preventive equipment to schools.
“Worse still we encourage the distribution of Covid 19 abatement equipment to schools before we can talk of opening schools, let alone provision of running water and drilling of boreholes in many schools where there is no source of water.
“We also urge government to address the welfare of teachers so that they can be capacitated when schools finally open. The government has so many challenges before it can simply call for reopening of schools, “He added.
Meanwhile, Mr Zhou went on to say it is best for teachers to continue online lessons while students are in the safety of their homes.
“In the mean time the best teachers can do is to intensify class and subject WhatsApp learning while students are in the safety of their homes,” he said.
A total of 147 deaths were reported this week, the number of deaths decreased compared to 268 deaths reported during the previous week. Community deaths account for 31,2 percent of the Covid-19 related deaths, a slight increase from 31 percent reported the previous week.
