Chronicle Editor
ALL children must be back at school now after the second term of this year started yesterday for non-examination writing classes.
Those who are writing their final examinations this year resumed classes on Monday last week. This will be the second and last term of this year, one that, like last year, was disrupted by Covid-19.
Last year also had two terms. The first one ended prematurely in March following the outbreak of the viral disease on the 20th of that month. Thereafter, schools remained closed for some six months as the country battled the then new but very dangerous disease. They reopened in September into October closing three months later with expectations they would resume lessons in January this year. However, a second wave of the disease set in in December, infecting thousands and taking the lives of scores.
The Government had to order a delay in the reopening of schools for the first term until March. The term progressed largely without incident to its scheduled end in early June. A few weeks thereafter, the third wave of the disease set in. Thousands were infected and hundreds lost their lives in the severest wave the country has witnessed since March last year. As a result, learning institutions remained closed beyond June 28 when they were due to reopen. Classes only restarted on Monday last week for kids who are taking their public examinations this year with other classes resuming lessons countrywide yesterday.
For the next 80 days, schools would be open as the Government ordered a long term to ensure that children make up for lost time. In our view, children are not only making up for lost time, but are also learning in advance as there is a risk of another disruption of the academic calendar early next year if, as feared in some quarters, infections spike over the festive holiday.
We look forward to a safe 80 days; safe for the children, their teachers and parents. We have high expectations given the preparations that the Government, school authorities, development partners and parents have put in over the extended holiday.
The Government has provided $500 million to facilitate procurement and installation of material and infrastructure to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks in public schools as well as being able to respond if infections are detected.
Boreholes have been drilled at schools, learning space expanded to enable greater social distancing and 2 900 more teachers have been recruited since June. School authorities at private institutions have also used their resources to improve water supply, procurement of sanitisers, protective clothing, and expanding learning space as well as their teaching establishments.
The Government capped it all by running a national assessment exercise led by the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cain Mathema. His team visited dozens of schools for an on-the-ground assessment of the state of preparedness of schools for the safe resumption of face-to-face lessons. He and his team indeed established that the institutions were ready to resume lessons.
We implore school authorities, children and their parents to play to the rules so that their good preparedness matches execution. Social distancing must be strictly enforced, the same for correct and consistent hand washing and face mask wearing. If any one of their children or staff suspects they have contracted the virus, they must immediately get tested. If they test positive they must self-isolate while taking prescribed medication.
But our view of a successful second and final school term for this year will not be only about prevention of Covid-19 outbreaks in schools and its containment if cases are detected.
It will also be about exam-writing children being ready to take the final tests. Yes, the Government has been running a blended teaching and learning strategy since March last year. Lessons are being delivered on social media with many schools creating specific applications for that purpose too. In addition, lessons are being delivered on national radio and television. This will complement the face-to-face teaching and learning that resumed yesterday.
Elsewhere in this edition, Primary and Secondary Education Deputy Minister, Edgar Moyo, addresses the vital question about examinations.
“We have introduced catch up strategies to bring learners up to date,” he said. “These include clinical remediation where a teacher has to identify gaps for each learner and come up with strategies to address them. We also have blended learning where teachers can combine some topics and also target certain key topics in order to compress the syllabus. We also have online learning where pupils can continue to learn even when they are outside school.”
We are optimistic that the new teaching and learning approach will work so that children who are writing their final examinations are ready for them, with Covid-19 being kept out of schools.
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