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| Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Dr Takavafira Zhou |
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‘schools opening long overdue’
Teachers’
unions under the Federation of Zimbabwe Education Unions (FOZEU) have called
upon government to plan and engage them ahead of the opening of schools for
this year.
FOZEU
demands several measures to be set right by government before schools can be
safe zones for learning.
These
include the restoration of teachers’ salaries to US$520, cooperation among all
stakeholders within the education system, placement of Covid-19 response plan
and initiation of plans to monitor the progress being made in schools in
providing safe learning environment.
This
comes in the wake of the calls by some parents for the unconditional opening of
schools as sentiments grow that pupils risk losing all they have learnt which
will make it difficult to catch up with what they have not yet learnt.
With
regards to vaccination, FOZEU demands that government must vaccinate teachers
on a willing basis.
Every
teacher should keep a Covid-19 score card and ensure a smooth flow of learning
and limit the spread of the corona virus.
The
organisation also demands that all students should be tested first before they are
admitted into the school environment.
In
an interview with TellZim, Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
president Dr Takavafira Zhou said any failure to plan properly will see grade
seven pupils producing poor results come the 2021 final exam time.
“It
is the failure to plan and prepare for opening of schools during pandemic which
caused disastrous grade 7 results for 2020 and if not dealt with it will happen
again.
“The
education sector is one of the key pillars of our society and every society
globally and its welfare should be a top priority for the responsible governing
authority, teacher incapacitation should be addressed testing of all school
staff and students should be prioritized and vaccination of all will teachers
and government of Zimbabwe should desist from making unilateral and uninformed
decisions as it has become their norm, it is necessary to consider input from
all stakeholders,” said Zhou.
On
his part, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) president Orbert
Masaraure government has to make sure that schools are opened quickly without
further delays.
“Government
should urgently address the salary crisis and institute safety measure and go
on to open schools so that our learners don’t continue to lose learning time. Schools
have to open under the right conditions. The opening is long due,” said
Musaraure.
