Mozambique: School year may be extended to February 2021 – AIM report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: School year may be extended to February 2021 – AIM report

9:32 CAT | 15 Jul 2020

Photo: Noticias

The 2020 school year in Mozambique may be extended to February 2021, following alterations to the school calendar, imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Education, Gina Guibunda, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”.

All educational establishments, from creches to universities, closed in late March, as the government struggled to halt the spread of Covid-19. 12th grade (pre-university) classes in secondary schools are scheduled to resume on 27 July. Teacher training colleges will also open on that date, but so far no date has been fixed for re-opening the rest of the education system.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Guibunda said “In principle, the school year will not end in 2020, even if classes resume on 27 July. On that date classes only resume for 12th grade and teacher training. The resumption of classes in 10th and 7th grades (the grades at the start of the two cycles of secondary education) will depend on the success achieved in this first phase”.

The Ministry has decided to cut certain subjects from the curriculum – physical education, agriculture and livestock and business studies will not be taught, because they involve physical contact and the manipulation of objects (which might carry the coronavirus on their surfaces).

Even if all goes according to the Education Ministry’s plans, only 171 schools of the 667 which teach 12th grade will resume classes on 27 July, plus 19 teacher training institutes.

At a Monday meeting of secondary school directors from Maputo city and province, chaired by Education Minister Camelita Namashalua, hygiene recommendations on a list drawn up jointly by the health and education ministries were also discussed.

The list contains 29 requirements and, according to the National Director of School Health, Arlina Chaquisse, the list will be assessed by an independent body.

Among the measures proposed is that permanent school health teams should be stationed at each school to monitor compliance with the Covid-19 prevention measures.

On entering a school, pupils will have their temperature checked, using an infra-red digital thermometer. The clearest sign of Covid-19 is a fever, and so this measure will allow children to be screened for high temperatures.

But the worst headache for schools is to guarantee an adequate water supply. A basic measure against the coronavirus is the regular washing of hands, and the Ministry has promised that no school without water will be allowed to re-open.

A fund of 3.5 billion meticais (about 50 million US dollars) has been established to pay for the construction and rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation systems in schools.

Source: AIM