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Samuel Kadungure
Senior Reporter
The majority of teachers in Manicaland are reporting for duty since the opening of schools for the Second Term recently, with lessons in full throttle, it has been established.
A survey conducted by this publication in Mutare, Makoni, Chipinge, Buhera, Mutasa, Chimanimani and Nyanga showed that since schools opened, both teachers and learners have been in attendance.
However, most schools, especially urban day and boarding schools – have enforced tight gate pass controls that have seen learners with outstanding fees being turned away.
While school fees should be paid on or before opening, Government has provided a leeway for hard pressed parents to enter into payment plans with school authorities.
Manicaland deputy education director, Mr Charles Muganhu said lessons are progressing well.
“From the reports we are getting from the seven districts, things are progressing well. Of course, we cannot talk of 100 percent attendance by both teachers and learners as there could be genuine issues that can affect them. For instance a few teachers were delayed by the extension of the population and housing census,” said Mr Muganhu.
He also implored parents to pay school fees on time to enable schools to effectively discharge their mandate.
“We should all put our hands on the deck and ensure that we have an incident-free term, and accord our learners ample time in class as they lost valuable time due to Covid-19 disruptions,” said Mr Muganhu.
He went on to highlight that learners require extra support from teachers in order to catch up on their learning as they lost valuable time due to Covid-19 disruptions.
Government and its development partners have been making use of blended learning – a mixture of physical, virtual, radio and television tutorials – to enable learners to catch up on lost time.
Meanwhile, to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infections, schools have put in place adequate measures to ensure the safety of learners, teachers and ancillary staff.
Schools are adhering to Covid-19 protocols, with learners and teachers wearing face masks and sanitising their hands frequently.
Thermal scanning is also being done at most institutions’ entry points.
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