Govt to closely monitor situation in schools Professor Paul Mavima

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE safety of teachers and learners remains paramount and the Government will continue to closely monitor the situation in schools following a spike in Covid-19 cases in schools, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Professor Paul Mavima has said.

Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations start today while Grade Seven candidates will stat writing on Thursday.
Practical examinations however, started two weeks ago.

Prof Mavima, who was speaking in an interview before commissioning a new service delivery vehicle fleet bought by Gokwe town council over the weekend, said the Government will not hesitate to shut down schools if Covid-19 cases continues to increase.

“Remember a number of precautions were taken to ensure safety in schools. It’s unfortunate that we have had few schools including John Tallach High School recording high figures of pupils and teachers that tested positive to Covid-19. The school authorities are however doing their best to adhere to the Education Ministry’ standard operating procedures,” said Prof Mavima.

He said the safety of teachers and learners remains paramount and the Government will continue to closely monitor the situation in schools and respond accordingly.

“If there is a serious problem, the Government will not hesitate to take measures to protect pupils and their teachers because their lives come first. We have had a few worrying cases and we hope the sitution remains under control,”said Minister Mavima.

He said President Mnangagwa has repeatedly said the people’s lives come first and as such will not hesitate to order the closure of schools if it becomes necessary to protect pupils and teachers.

Meanwhile, Prof Mavima said his Ministry has welcomed the 2021 budget which emphasised a cut in civil service wage bill.

He said every sensible and patriotic Zimbabwean should accept the wage bill had been straining the Government cash flows.

Prof Mavima said the budget was focusing on development, a move which he said will see the civil servants getting below their expectations for about a year after which the Government will be able to meet their expectations.

“What we have is a developmental budget which allocates resources towards development and so as a ministry we are generally happy about the budget. Every Zimbabwean who is serious about the development of this country will understand that we need to reserve money for capital expenditure.

“Imagine a situation which existed previously whereby 93 percent of money collected as tax went to salaries. It actually meant we were paying people all that was being collected and only left with seven percent to fund development programmes.

So every understanding citizen will understand that because of the reduced fiscal space, they can take a reduced salary knowing that maybe after six months or a year down the line the economy will have improved,” he said.

Finance and Economic Development Minister, Professor Mthuli Ncube last week announced a $421,6 billion National Budget for 2021 whose focus is on increased production.

Prof Ncube had to strike a delicate balance between maintaining a tight macro-economic policy, incentivising production and cushioning workers and vulnerable groups.

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