Use of colleges as quarantine centres exposes system decay

The government has turned several Zimbabwean universities and colleges into quarantine centres for COVID-19 amid the shortage of facilities, in the process exposing the sorry state of some higher educational facilities.

The country recorded its first positive case on 20 March and as of 4 May, it had 34 positive cases including four deaths and five recoveries. The low numbers of recorded cases have been blamed on a lack of testing capacity.

As a precautionary measure, Zimbabweans deported or returning from other countries are being isolated at universities, teachers’ colleges, polytechnics and schools.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa ordered the closure of institutions of higher learning and schools in March, and last week he extended the lockdown by a further two weeks.

All education institutions closed until further notice

Mnangagwa said tertiary institutions and schools would remain closed until further notice.

The country’s Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Obadiah Moyo said schools and institutions of higher learning have been identified as quarantine centres.

“Schools and institutions of higher learning have been identified by the COVID-19 taskforce as quarantine centres. There must be no fears of the spread of diseases because after their use, they will be fumigated before use by students,” he said.

Since last month, those deported from Botswana were being housed at the United College of Education, a teacher training college, and at Bulawayo Polytechnic. Both institutions are in Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo.

In Matabeleland North Province, authorities said they were taking people deported from Botswana, Cameroon and other countries to a local school in Victoria Falls that can only hold 100 people.

If more are deported or return, as expected throughout the province, other schools and the state-run Lupane State University have been identified as quarantine centres.

In Harare, people returning from the United Kingdom have been taken to Belvedere Teachers’ College.

Squalid conditions

The housing of people in institutions of higher learning in the country has provided the world a window on the squalid conditions under which many Zimbabwean students have been living and learning.

Last month, returnees from the UK protested against being kept at Belvedere Teachers’ College, forcing authorities to consider taking them to the University of Zimbabwe, a decision that was later reversed.

A Zimbabwean returnee wrote a letter published in local newspapers saying the institution of higher learning was not fit for human habitation.

“That hundreds of desperate college students live in shanty facilities such as Belvedere with no complaints doesn’t make it a habitable place. That other citizens returning via Plumtree and Beitbridge ports of entry have equally been treated shabbily doesn’t make it right, and doesn’t indicate at all that the government of Zimbabwe cares about its citizens.

“If this treatment of citizens by Zimbabwean authorities has anything to show, it is that authorities who have presided over poor infrastructure, including hospitals, do not care at all about protecting its citizens from COVID-19,” the letter said.

“When we arrived at Belvedere, we thought authorities had already assessed the place and certified it as habitable. We had no expectations of anything flashy, given the fact that this is a temporary quarantine facility in an emergency situation, but we also didn’t expect that we would be thrown in a place which doesn’t have basic amenities such as running water.”

Safe re-opening

Last week Mnangagwa said that due to the increased threat from COVID-19, universities would remain closed, but the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development is in consultations with parents, vice-chancellors and college principals about how to ensure the safe re-opening of colleges and universities.

In the meantime, some institutions of higher learning are now offering e-learning but in a recent statement the Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU) said the cost of data was having a negative impact on students’ academic performance.

The government has since said it is negotiating with service providers to provide zero-rated access to educational material for students.