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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
A TEAM from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education was in Bulawayo yesterday to assess the readiness of schools in the province to reopen in line with Covid-19 prevention protocols.

The schools first term was supposed to start during the first week of the year but Government deferred the reopening as the second wave of the virus saw a spike in the number of cases and deaths.

It is a mixed bag in terms of schools readiness to reopen for the first term, especially at boarding schools.

Other schools are well-prepared while others are moving towards full preparedness ahead of the announcement of the reopening date soon.

Government is taking all necessary precautions to minimise the risk of Covid-19 infections at learning institutions, a development that has seen Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education teams assessing schools readiness to reopen for the first term.

Government continues to issue personal protective equipment and sanitisers to schools so ensure that when the date of reopening is announced, the school’s environment will be safe for teachers, staff, parents and pupils.

Last year, the education ministry set standard operating procedures for all schools to guide the safe reopening of schools in the Covid-19 environment.

Communications and Advocacy director in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Taungana Ndoro said the ministry will leave no stone unturned in a bid to make sure that schools are safe for pupils, teachers and members of staff when they reopen.

He said teams from his Ministry have been on the ground visiting schools especially boarding schools across the country to ascertain their level of preparedness.

Yesterday, Mr Ndoro said, the assessment team was assessing schools in Bulawayo.

“We are doing an assessment of the schools preparedness for reopening. We are assessing boarding schools especially to check preparedness for opening and adherence to MoHCC and WHO Covid-19 protocols,” he said.

Asked if the schools are ready to reopen, Mr Ndoro said, “It’s a mixed bag. Other schools are well-prepared, others moving towards full preparedness.”

He said Government will continue to avail PPEs to schools in a bid to mitigate against the spread of the virus.

“Government schools and those schools that are not for profit making will continue to benefit from fiscal assistance in terms of PPEs and sanitisers. When the reopening date is announced we believe the schools will be ready and the environment will be safe,” said Mr Ndoro.

Already, Government has announced that a new teaching strategy will be ready for accelerated learning that will help learners catch up when schools are able to reopen safely for the new term.

Following the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education postponed the start of the first term except for the last batch of O-level and A-level exams.

Mr Ndoro said a robust catch-up learning and teaching strategy would be reflected in the teachers’ plan books.

“Catch-up programmes are planned for the time when schools reopen. We will follow an accelerated pattern of the teaching and learning and this strategy will be ready when schools open.

“Remember the plan book of teachers? Now we plan with catch-up strategies in place. For instance, a topic on energy can be done at once under one subject instead of separately in geography, physics, chemistry or science,” said Mr Ndoro.

He said stakeholders were already involved and online platforms were very active.