Teachers say NO to Scheduled June Exams… Want Pubs Reopened before Schools

There is a possibility that this year’s ZIMSEC June examinations set to begin this monthend may not proceed as scheduled, after Zimbabwean teachers approached the courts with an application interdicting the move by the country’s public examinations regulatory body.

After ZIMSEC set dates for the 2020 June examinations a couple of weeks ago, the country’s restive teachers who have also threatened to down tools unless they get salaries in United States dollars, have been wary of the vulnerability to Covid19 posed by the scheduled exams on both school staffers and learners.

The exams are set to begin on June 29, ending 22 July.

Only this Wednesday, the Amalgamated Rural Teachers’ Association of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) poured launched an attack on the Government’s decision to reopen schools, saying beerhalls should rather be opened first to assess Covid19 spread, before schools can be allowed to reopen.

And today, various teacher union groups filed an application barring ZIMSEC from convening the examinations.

The dissenting teachers are being represented by the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).

“Leaders of Teachers’ Unions came together to compile an application to bar ZIMSEC from convening June examinations. (ZLHR) are supporting this progressive move. We will use all means at our disposal to protect the lives of teachers and learners,” wrote ARTUZ on Twitter.

The teachers have continued to argue that the Government must implement measures, such as provision of PPEs and massive recruitment of teaching staff, to ensure teachers and students are adequately protected from the Covid19 scourge
This week, the Zimbabwe Government announced that it had rescheduled the re-opening of schools to July 28.

Zwnews