Acting President Retired Hon General Dr Chiwenga has just extended the COVID-19 national lockdown by a further 2 weeks and schools by 3weeks to put safety measures in place before reopening. This means children will miss over a full month of schooling so far in 2022.
Women who spoke to Amakhosikazi Media said the extension was unfair as children were already more than a year behind in their schooling due to the repeated postponement of school terms in the last two years.
“Its no longer about the Covid-19 cases, because as long as the grade 7 results are not yet out then we are doomed” said one mother of a student awaiting her grade 7 results. “Civil servants must be given their allowances so they finish marking. This is bad at the expense of our kids, they are already too far behind” she added.
Another mother when asked if this extension of lockdown was any good for school children said, ” As parents we need to be assertive and put in that extra effort. I practically harass my son’s teacher for homework and give her money for ‘airtime’ to motivate her. Teachers on the other hand are terribly selfish and don’t care about student’s welfare”
The Zimbabwean government is facing a rebellion from teachers who have refused to mark the highest exams at elementary level Grade 7 exams, citing that the money they are being offered is too insignificant for the amount of work they put in. They are demanding pay increase to USD550 for the least paid teacher.
What are your thoughts on this extended lockdown and the further delay in schools reopening?
