Government Orders Colleges To Shut Down As Coronavirus Cases Continue To Rise

The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development has ordered principals of teachers’ colleges, polytechnical colleges and industrial technical colleges to suspend face-to-face lectures on campus.

In a letter addressed to the principals, the permanent secretary in the Ministry, professor Fanuel Tagwira said all students should vacate halls of residence by Friday, 24 July 2020. He wrote:

It is now observed that Covid-19 cases are escalating daily and this may put the lives of students and members of staff in our institutions at high risk.

In view of the foregoing, the Ministry is hereby directing that all tertiary education Institutions, with immediate effect, suspend face-to-face lectures on campus and continue with e-learning.

In this regard, all students should vacate halls of residence by Friday, 24 July 2020.

The Ministry is working flat out to ensure all institutions are adequately resourced with the necessary infrastructure to facilitate access to quality e-learning.

The development comes after the country has experienced a sudden spike in coronavirus cases, with local transmissions cases overtaking imported cases for the first time on Monday.

Meanwhile, the government has deferred the reopening of primary and secondary schools which were scheduled for 31 July due to the health crisis.