Zim delays opening schools
2009-01-07 12:00
Special Report
Four Chinese men face deportation from Zimbabwe after they were arrested for killing more than 40 tortoises for meat, a report says.
A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.
Harare - The Zimbabwe government has deferred the opening of schools for term one of 2009 by two weeks from Tuesday January 13 to Tuesday January 27, the state-controlled Zimbabwe Herald reported on Wednesday.
Secretary for Education, Sport and Culture Stephen Mahere told the newspaper that the decision "was necessitated by the need to facilitate completion of the marking of the 2008 national examinations".
The decision to postpone the opening dates would come as a relief to prospective Form One pupils who wrote their Grade 7 examinations last year and who had been gripped by anxiety after Zimsec failed to announce a date for the release of results, the newspaper said.
Grade 7 results were critical for securing Form One places as they were a yardstick of progress made over seven years of primary school education, the Herald said.
Zimsec director Happy Ndanga told the newspaper the results would be released "soon" as the council was still working on the capturing of the results.
Traditionally, Grade 7 results are released a week before schools close for the third term or the first two weeks of December "to give students and parents ample time to secure Form One places".
The postponement would also give the ministry time to consider applications by schools to charge fees in foreign currency, the newspaper said.
- SAPA