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Resolve teachers grievances before schools re-open, govt told – The Zimbabwe Mail
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3 000 more schools needed Minister
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
At least 3 000 more primary and secondary schools are needed to cater for the increasing number of students and to ensure an improvement in the quality of education in Zimbabwe, a Cabinet minister has said.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Cain Mathema was speaking in the National Assembly yesterday while presenting a ministerial statement on last year’s Grade Seven results after legislators raised concern over the drop in the pass rate.
The 2020 national pass rate is 37,11 percent, a drop of 9,79 percent from 2019’s 46,9 percent.
Eighty-eight schools recorded zero percent pass rate, with these mainly in rural and resettlement areas and with 31 of them coming from Matabeleland districts.
RURAL schools are poorly resourced compared to those in urban areas, a gap often reflected in public examination results. Shortage of information and communication technologies (ICT) tools and the Covid-19- induced lockdown is extending this gap.
Following the outbreak of Covid-19, online lessons have become the cornerstone of ensuring learners keep up with their education. The traditional face-to-face/physical learning model has been minimised to prevent the spread of the virus which thrives in crowds.
However, for rural schools, challenges of network availability and resources have hindered students from learning. Primary and Secondary Education Parliamentary Portfolio Committee Chairperson Ms Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said pupils who wrote Grade Seven public examinations last year had been disadvantaged.
B-Metro publication caught up with Sithembinkosi Mafika (63), who is the late Paul Sibanda’s grandmother.
She said after she was informed that her grandson had drowned in Emagodini pool in Pelandaba West she informed her neighbour Sibonile Mhlanga (46) who is a traditional healer.
“We went to the pool and retrieved the body. He assured me that my grandson had not died, but he was just lying unconscious,” she said.
A close family member who requested not to be named said: “Mhlanga convinced the granny that her grandson could be resuscitated. Mhlanga and the granny took the body to a bush, Mhlanga prepared fire and burnt herbs while calling her grandson to life. But his bid to resurrect him failed.”
B-Metro caught up with Sithembinkosi Mafika (63), who is the late Paul Sibanda’s grandmother.
She said after she was informed that her grandson had drowned in Emagodini pool in Pelandaba West she informed her neighbour Sibonile Mhlanga (46) who is a traditional healer.
“We went to the pool and retrieved the body. He assured me that my grandson had not died, but he was just lying unconscious,” she said.
A close family member who requested not to be named said: “Mhlanga convinced the granny that her grandson could be resuscitated. Mhlanga and the granny took the body to a bush, Mhlanga prepared fire and burnt herbs while calling her grandson to life. But his bid to resurrect him failed.”
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