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Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has published the 2021 school calendar marking the return to the standard education interface, which was interrupted by the prolonged Covid-19 lockdown.

According to the calendar, the first term opens on Monday, March 15 for the Grade 7, Form Four and Upper Six examination classes, and the rest of the classes a week later on Monday, March 22.

The first term will end on Friday, June 4.

The second term begins on Monday, June 28, ending on Friday, September 10, while the third term will start on Monday October 4 until Friday December 17.

Teachers for examination classes are required to report for duty on March 10 while the rest are supposed to be at their workplaces by March 17.

The resumption of face-to-face classes this month follows a thorough exercise by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary education and their Health and Child Care counterparts to ensure a safe return to the standard education interface.

Schools closed on December 18 after briefly opening last year. They were set to reopen on January 4 this year before Government indefinitely postponed their opening following a spike in Covid-19 cases. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s director of communications and advocacy Mr Taungana Ndoro confirmed the development.

Mr Ndoro said teams from the Ministry’s head office including provincial and district offices have since embarked on monitoring visits to assess the state of preparedness of schools

“Our teams are visiting schools with particular interest in boarding schools since Covid-19 cases were experienced there in the previous year. The state of preparedness in respect of social distancing and innovativeness of schools in utilising other spaces within their premises for boarding, dining and classroom purposes was quite commendable,” he said.

In keeping with social distancing rules, there shall be a rotational attendance of classes.

Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education officials, working in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, had to check that the measures, informed by World Health Organisation guidelines, were in place.

Under the protocols, classes must be smaller with more teachers being employed to allow this.

A total of $600 million was set aside by the Government and disbursed to needy schools that had to upgrade their sanitation, enabling them to reopen safely without risking a spike in infections. — @mashnets