Schools to close for elections

BY CHIEF REPORTER

HARARE

Schools and colleges across the country are to shut down for 12 days from March 19 to allow students and teachers to take part in the elections.

Cabinet endorsed the plan last week, which will see all schools and tertiary institutions closed until three days after the crucial vote.

The Zimbabwean heard the decision had been made because of concerns over the safety of students and teachers in the face of increasing violence – a claim the Government officially denies.

According to Government officials, the plan to close the schools was hatched because of an intelligence report that foresaw increased violence in the lead up to and soon after the elections. Plans have already been made to deploy law enforcement agents, including members of the Zimbabwe National Army, to help the police maintain the peace in the last week of the campaign.

Some parents are outraged, saying that schools were supposed to open for a new longer term given the exorbitant bus fares for pupils in boarding schools, and also said the decision would lead to logistical nightmares.

Lessons have been disrupted at schools in the countryside because of violence by war veterans, targeted at teachers and students accused of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Pre-election violence has disrupted schooling at many centres in the past three months, according to the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ). Some have closed for just a day, only to re-open later after talks between Zanu (PF) supporters and the affected institutions.  

More than 7,000 teachers have been forced to flee their schools and many are seeking job transfers to urban areas, said the PTUZ.  

Education, Sport and Culture Minister Aeneas Chigwedere said: “We want elections to be held in a peaceful environment.”