Relief as government scraps away school fees

In a shocking development, government has announced that it has scrapped away school fees for the second school learning term. This comes amid reports that a crash programme to ensure learners complete their syllabuses and the suspension of sporting activities for the remainder of the year were among interventions being considered to ensure learners graduate to the next grades.The government has scrapped Second Term school fees, while 6 000 teachers are being recruited ahead of the phased reopening of schools starting tomorrow.

The recruitment of teachers will cater for classes that have been trimmed in line with health guidelines to fight Covid-19.Before schools closed at the end of March, some classes had over 50 pupils, but according to the Standard Operating Procedure for the Prevention and Management of Covid-19 drafted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, a standard-sized classroom must not exceed 35 learners. The learners must also be seated a meter apart.Public schools open on Tuesday for classes sitting Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) examinations as the country resumes direct tuition. Next year’s examination classes — Grade 6, Form 3 and Lower Six — will resume studies on October 26, and on November 9, ECD A and B, Grades 1 to 5 and Forms 1 and 2 will return to school.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister Ambassador Cain Mathema told The Sunday Mail that Government had adopted extraordinary measures to allow learners to proceed to the next grades.“There will be strategies this year and next year, like suspension of sports, the introduction of weekend classes and crash programmes that will be put in place to ensure that students catch up with time that was lost.“In some instances, teachers have to emphasise and concentrate on the key concepts so that even those slow learners grasp the concepts. Teachers know how to handle such scenarios.