Government Gives Update On The Opening Of Schools
As part of planning for the imminent return of exam classes in schools, stakeholders are now working out the practical logistics for the needed safe and secure conditions for children to return, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said yesterday.
In her briefing after a meeting of the ad hoc Inter-ministerial Taskforce on Covid-19, she said the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education had come on board in the production of personal protective equipment, another testament of the competency-based curriculum.
“The education system has been disrupted and now we have to think and work outside the box to ensure that it does not suffer irreparably and our learners are not disadvantaged,” she said.
President Mnangagwa had already directed that “public exam classes within schools and final year students at colleges and universities must be allowed to continue recognising however, the stipulated Covid-19 prevention measures”.
Minister Mutsvangwa said consultations were being conducted at provincial, district and cluster level with stakeholders on the practical logistics for safe and secure conditions for all examination classes to begin in the shortest possible time.”
Last week, Cabinet expressed concern over the mushrooming of briefcase companies involved in the tendering processes for Covid-19 supplies but the materials production subcommittee reported that the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) Act already gave a framework on how to legally exclude briefcase companies in the tendering process.
So the Ministry of Health and Child Care, and NatPham will be coming up with a tender framework, which ensures that only reputable and established companies participate.
Minister Mutsvangwa stressed that the pandemic should not be an avenue for anyone to enrich themselves at the expense of the nation.
Hand sanitisers are now readily available and all suppliers are local.
“This is a testimony to the effort being put in by our tertiary institutions and industry in meeting local demand.”
