Flood disruptions: Ministry of Education to implement catch-up strategies

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education will implement catch-up strategies, including reviewing the education calendar, to compensate for learning time lost due to the recent rains. Unfortunately, two pupils drowned as a result of the floods.

Most parts of the country have been receiving heavy rains, with meteorologists predicting that they will persist until March.

In some rural areas, pupils who cross rivers have been unable to attend classes, especially when the rains are heavy, with authorities discouraging any attempts to cross flooded rivers.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Matabeleland South blended Secretary Merit Awards ceremony yesterday at Minda High School in Maphisa, Primary and Secondary Education Permanent Secretary, Mr Moses Mhike, said the ministry is aware of the rain-related disruptions to the education sector.

“We will then be able to look at our school calendar. You remember, we have already issued our school calendar, and we are then going to be sitting with our district schools’ inspectors so that we can identify these key areas,” he said.

“I was listening to the news yesterday evening, and it was mentioned that we have never received the kind of rains that we have in areas such as Zvishavane and Chivi. This is unprecedented. We have never experienced such a situation before.”

Mr Mhike said the ministry is going to assess each school and determine what measures to implement.

“Those are the critical issues that we are going to be looking at ahead of the closing of schools to determine whether we should extend the term. I think for the critical areas where we have had these disruptions, we can consider giving them an extra week or two so that they can catch up,” he said.

“Alternatively, we could also use weekends and have these pupils attend classes during weekends so that they can catch up. The majority of the catch-up strategies that we will employ will require us to consult our school heads so that they can provide recommendations.”

Mr Mhike said the ministry is in the process of collecting data on the affected schools as more rains have been received during the week.

“Recently, we lost two pupils due to these floods, and one life lost is already too many. This happened in the past two to three weeks,” he said.

Mr Mhike urged parents, guardians, and school authorities to continue putting up measures to ensure that their children are safe.

“When we opened schools, we issued a communiqué warning of the possibility of very heavy rains. We have always reminded our communities, teachers, and school heads that our pupils need to be in safe environments,” he said.

Last month, Matabeleland North Provincial Education Director, Mr Jabulani Mpofu, revealed that the rains had disrupted 22 schools in Matabeleland North, with Tsholotsho and Umguza being the worst affected.
Some schools in the province had already started implementing strategies to keep learners in school.