HARARE – Schools across Africa are slowly reopening after months of remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic. But Zimbabwe’s teachers union is resisting going back to the classroom and has rejected a call by the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for governments to reopen schools.

On Tuesday, Mohamed Malick Fall, regional director for UNICEF in Eastern and Southern Africa, urged governments in the region to open schools closed earlier this year following an outbreak of coronavirus.

Fall said the pandemic has caused “an unprecedented education crisis” over the last seven months as radio and online learning methods are not reaching all the students. Some also lost the daily meals they were receiving at school.

And that’s not all, said Fall.

“Lost learning hurts children and community, teenage pregnancy and violence against children increase. Now we acknowledge the safe reopening of schools will not be easy. While evidence show that children are not the main driver of the pandemic, there will be cases of COVID-19 in school(s). It will not be a practice in perfection. But it can be done with community commitment, government leadership and investment,” he said.

South Africa, despite its large COVID-19 caseloads, reopened schools for all grades at the end of August.

UNICEF says most countries in eastern and southern Africa have seen a phased return to schools, starting with exam classes.

In Zimbabwe exam classes are scheduled to start next week. But that now hangs in balance after the country’s biggest teachers’ union called for a strike unless their concerns are addressed.

The teachers earn about $100 a month, including a $75 “COVID-19 allowance” introduced two months ago. They want an additional $500 to be above the poverty line.

Sifiso Ndlovu, the head of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, said he is “worried” that UNICEF has not looked at his country’s lack of preparedness to reopen schools.

“The safety issues that we have been concerned about in the schools have not been met thoroughly as to guarantee safe and healthy reopening of schools without high incidents of COVID-19. Secondly, UNICEF seem to be oblivious that the learning conditions for students is also dependent on the working conditions of the teachers and above all it should be supported by budgetary support even from UNICEF,” he said.

Amon Murwira is Zimbabwe’s minister of higher and tertiary education. He said the government allocated about $60,000 to ensure that when schools reopen they are observing World Health Organization guidelines for COVID-19.

Neighboring Zambia opened schools Monday. Via WhatsApp, Christopher Yalukanda, from the Zambia National Union of Teachers said his organization is checking on the preparedness of schools after the over half-a-year-long closures.

“What we observed is that most of children came back equipped with masks, the schools have already acquired some face masks, sanitizers and they have set up some washing points within the school. In order to take care of social distancing schools have divided or staggering timetable, which means not all the learners will report to school the same day,” said Yalukanda.

He said it was too early to conclude that Zambia has successfully reopened schools and is following WHO guidelines to contain the coronavirus. He said the teachers union will go around the country to assess the situation.

(SOURCE: VOANEWS)

NAIROBI: The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) on Monday ordered both primary and secondary school teachers to report back to learning institutions by September 28 ahead of the eventual reopening of schools.

TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said teachers are prepared to recover the time lost due to a nationwide coronavirus-triggered closure of schools in mid-March.

Macharia made the announcement after meeting with education stakeholders convened by Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

“We ask our teachers to report to school on Monday, September 28 to prepare for the eventual opening of schools, so our teachers can report any day between now and Monday and start preparing schools,” said Macharia.

Magoha, who has cautiously evaded to publicly comment on the reopening of learning institutions said: “I think it’s about time to call our children back to school.”

Magoha however said they will issue dates for re-opening after ‘appropriate government machinery has gone through the plans.’

A ministerial forum to review the proposed school calendar is set to take place by Friday, September 25, bringing together CS Magoha, Interior’s Fred Matiangi and Mutahi Kagwe (Health).

The ministerial forum will precede a presidential address on the further re-opening of the economy which has slowed down since March, and the re-opening of schools.

CS Magoha had earlier on expressed fears that achieving social distancing in public schools will be a challenge.

He however noted that the government will attempt to provide masks to vulnerable and less fortunate school going children.

(SOURCE: CAPITALNEWS)

THE disruption to schools caused by the coronavirus pandemic constitutes a “global education emergency” that threatens to derail the education of at least 24 million students projected to drop out of school as a result, said Henrietta Fore, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund. 

“At the height of Covid-19,” 192 countries shuttered schools, leaving 1.6 billion students without in-person learning, Fore said on a press call hosted by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. She added that now, more than 870 million students, “or half the world’s student population in 51 countries,” are still unable to return to school. 

“The longer children remain out of school, the less likely they are to return,” she said. “That’s why we are urging governments to prioritize reopening schools when restrictions are lifted.”

She added that beyond education, schools around the world provide many students with a source of nutrition and immunizations.

“At least 24 million children are projected to drop out of school due to Covid-19,” she said. 

Many schools went online in the spring as the virus spread around the world, turning to virtual education to replace in-person learning. Education experts, however, have acknowledged the shortcomings of virtual learning, saying that it cannot replace in-person schooling. Fore said that more than 460 million students across the globe don’t have internet access, computers or mobile devices to participate in virtual learning while their schools are closed. 

“We know that closing schools for prolonged periods of time [has] devastating consequences for children,” she said. “They become more exposed to physical and emotional violence. Their mental health is affected. They are more vulnerable to child labor, sexual abuse, and are less likely to break out of the cycle of poverty.”

The reopening of schools has become a hot-button issue, particularly in the U.S., where President Donald Trump has pushed to reopen schools regardless of how widely the virus is spreading in the community. Public health officials have emphasized the importance of reopening schools for in-person learning but have acknowledged that the virus presents a risk for young people. While young people typically don’t become as sick due to Covid-19 as older people, the long-term health consequences of a Covid-19 infection in young people are still being researched, and some young people have died from the disease.

Public health specialists, including White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, have said the best way to reopen schools is to contain the virus in the community. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said Tuesday that it’s possible to reopen schools safely with new protocols. She added that it will require “rethinking the role and training of teachers.”

UNESCO, UNICEF and the WHO jointly published Monday a 10-page document that outlines guidelines to reopen and operate schools during the pandemic. 

“It is of utmost importance that education and health work closely together to ensure that schools reopen safely as a matter of priority,” she said. “When we deal with education, the decision that we make today will impact tomorrow’s world.”

The United Nations agencies’ guidelines detail a number of measures that communities, schools, classrooms and individuals should weigh when deciding whether to reopen or attend school. Some of the policy measures include encouraging students to stay home if they believe they’ve been exposed to the virus and for schools to ensure adequate ventilation in indoor classrooms. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday that “many questions remain, but we’re starting to have a clearer picture” about how the virus affects children. He reiterated that the virus can kill children, though it’s rare, and that kids can become infected and spread the virus to others. Tedros added that more research is needed to learn what increases the risk of death in children as well as the potential long-term health complications from Covid-19.

Tedros said that the risk of reopening schools amid the pandemic will be determined by each community’s ability to bring the virus under control through proven public health measures, such as mask wearing, social distancing, testing, tracing and isolation. In places where there are no or only few new cases of the virus, “the decision to close schools should be a last resort.”

“Although children have largely been spared, many of the most serious health effects of the virus they have suffered in other ways,” he said. “Millions of children have missed out on months of schooling. We all want to see children back at school, and we all want to make sure the schools are the safe and supportive learning environments they should be.”

(SOURCE: CNBC AFRICA)