AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Zanzibar Education and Health Ministers have reassured students resuming studies today to confidently attend classes as arranged saying all arrangements for their safety have been completed.
Schools and colleges were closed for more than two months following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.
Minister for Health Mr Hamad Rashid Mohamed, and Minister for Education and Vocational Training Ms Riziki Pembe Juma, in separate occasions, said they have worked to ensure health and safety precautions are highly observed in all opening schools and colleges.
“Hygiene (hand washing), social distancing, and wearing of face mask should be a prior- ity to teachers and students.
We have directed the administra- tions in all schools/colleges to place water and washing detergent and sanitizers at entrances,” Ms Juma said yesterday.
She said students prepar- ing for the national form VI exams, higher learning institu- tions, third year students in Vo- cational Training centres, and in teachers’ training colleges preparing for exams, should be back to resume studies in their respective schools.
Other students in lower lev- els of education, she said, will have to wait and as we monitor the situation in controlling the spread of Covid-19.
“We will reopen as soon as we continue recording success against coro- navirus and getting back to normal life,” she said.
Returning students like Salama Omar, and Hassan Suleiman, a form VI student and health college student re- spectively, expressed their happiness to resume classes as they promised to observe health precautions for their safety and work hard to pass their upcom- ing exams.
The health Minister Mo- hamed emphasized on health precautions as the Covid-19 is not gone, and that all students, parents, and members of the public must adhere to current way of life after the virus.
He said: “We are still strug- gling to eradicate the virus. We plan to close down some of the Covid-19 treatment centres be- cause we only have few remain- ing.
Out of 134 we had since we started recording in March 17, this year, we have six at Kidimni, ten at Psychiatric hos- pital, three at JKU and three in Pemba.”
He said after the purchase of testing machines/equipment, the ministry is now establishing modern virology laboratory at Mnazi Mmoja referral hospital, Kidimni, and Wawi (Pemba) respectively, “We expect the virology labs to start operating in three weeks time.”
