Africa-Press – Mozambique. Following the announcement of the resumption of face-to-face classes in the country, the Ministry of Education and Human Development, in coordination with the Ministry of Health, drew up a series of mandatory procedure aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19 in public and private schools and kindergartens.
With a third wave of the disease threatening, and some worrying cases in public and private schools, scrupulous compliance with health protocols is even more essential to stop the spread of the virus in schools.
However, despite constant calls for compliance with prevention measures, some schools are still not fully complying with protocols. Excuses abound.
The head of the education department in Maputo city, Sandra Machaieie, said that schools had received clear guidelines regarding compliance with health protocols, without exception, adding that her institution had not yet received any reports about the lack of disinfection in schools.
“There are documents that indicate how we should proceed, and all schools received them. We have been overseeing and monitoring the process to ensure compliance. Schools have enough materials for disinfection,” she stated.
But reality on the ground suggests otherwise. A tour of primary schools in the city of Maputo indicated that some establishments are still struggling to fully comply with health protocols.
Lack of money and manpower are among the reasons cited by school managers.
The Alto-Maé Primary School, for example, says it has been complying with measures issued by the education sector, but there are obstacles.
“We have distributed buckets and soap for hands-washing, and aim to sanitise classrooms at least three times a day, but this has not always happened,” school director Alberto António admits.
António says that the entire school is committed to ensuring that there is no contamination, but there are times when their efforts are reduced to nothing because of the insufficiency of the budget allocated to primary schools.
“All primary schools, at least in the Kampfumo Municipal District, suffer from the insufficiency of the allocated state budget, which may come one month, but not the next. For some time now, parents and guardians have helped us meet some needs, but with Covid-19, everything has got worse, especially with the daily expenses we have to bear for the health of our children,” he explained.
“If we don’t have help in the next few days, we run the risk of facing difficulties in hand washing,” the school principal confessed.
At the Unidade10 Complete Primary School, the reality is a little better. According to the director, there is enough material to ensure that all prevention measures are met.
“Right at the entrance, the students are measured for temperature; there are buckets available for hand washing and constant wearing of masks, and a circulation guide, among other measures. With these measures, we are fighting the disease in our school,” school director Amilcar Bata says.
However, even in the midst of so much care, our reporting team found that classrooms were not always disinfected between shifts. Asked about this, Amilcar Bata said that it was unusual, and immediately sought further information.
Once the finding was confirmed, the person responsible for the disinfection process of the rooms and all common spaces, who at the time was performing other tasks, was called, and, although late, began to clean the rooms, but only those which had not yet been occupied by the students of the next shift.
Never before has Covid-19 infected and killed so many in the country, greatly affecting educational establishments. Records indicate just over 20 infected people in the whole of Maputo city school community, including students and teachers.
By
Inalcide Uamusse
