CHILDREN ARE THE FUTURE: CHINESE COUNSELLOR

A COUNSELLOR from the Chinese embassy has urged the country to invest in children saying they are the future.

These remarks were made by the Chinese Embassy’s Economic and Commercial Counsellor Xiaoming Zou, during the handover of 15 000 surgical masks to Chinhoyi High School by the embassy.

Zou said it was an honour to hand over the donation to Chinhoyi High School on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.

He said that children were the future of any nation and the Chinese embassy had been very concerned about the development of education in Zimbabwe and was committed to supporting the system.

“Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Zimbabwe’s community and we learned from the news that there were dozens of confi rmed cases at Chinhoyi High School.

“We decided to donate 15 000 surgical masks to help mitigate the spread of the disease,” he said.

Zou said as Zimbabwe’s all-weather friend, the Chinese embassy extended its hand to help create a healthy and safe environment for the students and teachers at the school.

He said the two countries always adhered to equal treatment, mutual support, mutual benefit and common development.

“We are confident that the Zimbabwean people will overcome the pandemic. In the future, we will continue to pay attention to Chinhoyi High School and do our best in providing help to fi ght against Covid-19,” he said.

Chinhoyi High School head, Mary Nyevedzanai thanked the Chinese embassy for the timely and kind gesture.

She said the 15 000 surgical masks would go a long way in allowing the school to better prepare and prevent the outbreak of Covid19 when schools open early next month.

The school suffered a Covid-19 outbreak towards the end of term three and was forced to suspend learning activities while examination candidates continued under strict monitoring from health personnel.

“The donation is just in time as the school prepares to open for term one, 2021. You are, indeed, our all-weather friend,” she said.

Chinhoyi High School has 1485 learners and 111 members of staff.