3 Karoi Teachers Succumb To COVID-19
Three teachers at Karoi schools succumbed to COVID-19 on Thursday last week as Zimbabwe is experiencing a coronavirus resurgence.
Karoi is among several districts in Mashonaland West province that have been declared COVID-19 hotspots by the Health ministry and is under localised lockdown.
One of the deceased teachers, Goodluck Tobaiwa Chambe, of Chikangwe High School was a principal marking supervisor under the Combined Science section.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said it was sad that Chambe died without getting his dues for marking last year’s ZIMSEC examinations. Said Majongwe:
_We are not happy that the late Karoi teacher (Chambe) was yet to get paid by Zimsec. He never got his dues and this is how bad it is as people who offered services, but national institutions renege on making payments. The impact of COVID-19 is obviously felt as he could have used the funds to buy protective equipment and to get medical attention. This is a tragedy._
Zimsec public relations manager Nicky Dlamini consoled the Chambe family confirming examination markers were yet to receive their allowances. Dlamini said:
_We are sorry for the family’s loss. Let me confirm that the payments for teachers, who marked Zimsec examinations, are currently being processed. Those that marked language papers were paid in May, the next batch of payments is being dispatched._
_COVID-19 affected many systems, not only Zimsec, but globally. It is unfortunate, but the payments were made in batches._
Majongwe said more teachers were likely to succumb to the pandemic and appealed to the government to immediately put in place measures to protect them.
He added that PTUZ views the “premature” reopening of schools as criminal as the move has resulted in the loss of lives.
More: Pindula News; NewsDay
