Teachers have been warned against conducting physical extra lesson as this is in violation of COVID-19 lockdown regulations.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education director of communications, Taungana Ndoro, said only online lessons are permitted and teachers who violate the coronavirus containment regulations by conducting face to face lessons will be prosecuted. Ndoro said:
We are clear when it comes to the issue of extra lessons. We have made it clear that only online lessons have been permitted.
Physical lessons, where teachers gather pupils at some location are illegal as there will be no mechanism to monitor adherence to guidelines so that they do not become spreaders of this pandemic.
Therefore, teachers who are conducting these lessons are liable for prosecution for defying COVID-19 lockdown regulations.
Ndoro added that teachers should be responsible and avoid greediness which will only expose their pupils to the deadly coronavirus. He said:
Our call, therefore, is for the teachers to be responsible and not be pushed by greed to conduct these physical lessons, while at the same time exposing themselves and their pupils to the pandemic.
Some teachers countrywide have resorted to offering extra lesson services to pupils to augment their salaries which are now a fraction of their pre-October 2018 earnings.