Category: #zanews

Kenyan schools re-opened for face-to-face learning “>on Monday, with grades four, standard eight and form fours returning to class for the first time in six months.

Kenya announced the closure of all learning institutions in March to contain the spread of COVID-19. Majority of parents welcomed the re-opening, even as they lamented tough economic times.

Also welcoming Kenya’s decision is to re-open schools is the UN agency for Children, UNICEF, which says more than 17 million Kenyan students have missed six months, leading to other social problems including teenage pregnancies and early marriages.

On arrival, it was clear for learners that school as they knew it will never be the same again.

“I think the most difficult thing is maintaining the social distance and having the mask all through,” said one learner.

“I am very impressed the guidelines and the protocols that have been followed to the letter,” some parents say.

The country’s education ministry had declared the academic year dead and announced that schools would only re-open in January. Last week’s announcement was an ambush of sorts for parents, especially those who may have lost their sources of income.

“I know it’s very tough for all the parents because first people have lost jobs so getting money is quite a problem,” says a parent.

According to the new guidelines those in transitional classes that is Grade 4, Standard eight and form four will be the first to report to school ahead of their national examinations which have now been pushed from November this year to March next year.

“Now that we have wasted a lot of time I will be able to recover it.”

“Student there is anxiety but I think the regulations put in place will work for the best,” some students say.

In the region, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda are yet to reopen as countries continue to grapple with how to re-open schools safely.

COVID-19 Lockdown | Kenya schools reopen: Sarah Kimani reports:

The post Kenyan schools re-open for face-to-face learning appeared first on SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader..

Read more here:: South Africa News Post

South African police are now working with their Sudanese counterparts in an investigation that implicates South Africa’s deputy ambassador to Sudan in a double murder.

Two women were killed in Zabantu Ngcobo’s apartment in Khartoum allegedly by the embassy’s driver and another local man.

The arrested pair told Sudanese police that they were ordered to kill an intelligence official that is apparently sending bad reviews of Ngcobo back to Pretoria.

International Relations spokesperson, Lunga Ngqengelele says they are aware of the situation which law enforcement is now handling in both countries.

The post South Africa working with Sudan in double murder investigation in Khartoum appeared first on SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader..

Read more here:: South Africa News Post

Tanzanian firefighters were battling for a third day on Tuesday to control a blaze on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, officials in the area said.

The fire, initially fanned by strong winds, erupted on Sunday at the Whona area, a rest centre for climbers using Mandara and Horombo, two of the routes tourists take up the mountain. Officials said winds had weakened on Tuesday.

Tanzania National Park Service (TANAPA) official Pascal Shelutete told Reuters that firefighters and others were getting the blaze under control, saying it was “almost contained”.

Hundreds of firefighters, residents and students in the area joined the effort to battle the blaze on Kilimanjaro, which rises to almost 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) above sea level.

The mountain in the East African nation of Tanzania attracts about 50,000 climbers a year.

“The weather is calm and there is no heavy wind that can spread the fire to other areas,” said Alex Kisingo, deputy head at the nearby College of African Wildlife Management, which has sent students and staff to fight the fire.

“The fire could have been contained earlier but the mountainous fire is very tricky,” he said, adding that no one had been injured and private property had not been affected.

He said the blaze could be contained by Tuesday evening, if the calm weather continued.

The post Tanzanian firefighters battle blaze on slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro appeared first on SABC News – Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa’s news leader..

Read more here:: South Africa News Post