Chronicle Editor
SCHOOLS are opening next Monday for examination classes while the rest of the pupils resume classes on 22 March.
Government resolved to reopen schools following recommendations from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education which assessed the schools’ preparedness to resume classes under the new normal.
It is our fervent hope that school authorities learnt from shortcomings of last year when a number of schools witnessed a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases forcing some schools to prematurely close. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education came up with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to guide schools on how to minimise pupils and teachers’ exposure to the pandemic.
Under the new normal, hugging and handshakes are prohibited and pupils will not share desks and educational materials such as textbooks. A classroom should have a maximum of 35 pupils to enable pupils to maintain social distancing.
Break and lunch times are supposed to be staggered to avoid overcrowding and all sporting activities are banned.
It is a fact that most of the schools that were affected by the pandemic were not strictly adhering to SOP and we hope this time around school authorities have come up with measures to address the shortcomings.
Lack of resources could have forced some schools to flout SOP and during its assessment, the Education Ministry should have identified such schools and assist with the required resources.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema recently confirmed that teachers at some rural schools had no access to drinking water and have to walk long distances to fetch water. It is such schools that find it difficult to enforce SOP because pupils and teachers have no access to water to enable them to maintain basic hygiene such as regular washing of hands.
The Education Ministry said it is getting funding for borehole drilling and putting up water reticulation infrastructure at schools this year and it is important to prioritise rural schools that have no access to drinking water.
When schools open next Monday, temporary arrangements should be made to deliver water to such schools until such a time a permanent solution is found. It is critical to ensure when schools open, there is strictly adherence to SOP in order to minimise the exposures of both pupils and teachers to the Covid-19 pandemic.
What is encouraging is that not a single learner succumbed to the pandemic last year and the target this time around should be to drastically reduce the number of Covid-19 cases at schools.
School authorities should put measures in place to ensure that health protocols are observed at all times and what this entails is strict supervision of pupils. Parents and guardians on their part should complement school authorities’ efforts by ensuring that even at home health protocols such as wearing masks, physical distancing, sanitising as well as hand washing are strictly adhered to.
Schools should have adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for both teachers and pupils all the time.
Online Reporter