Education Ministry Distributes 50m Face Masks

Oct 17 , 2020


The Ministry of Education has started distributing 50 million face masks to public schools across the country. The reopening of schools comes after a closure of nearly seven months due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) following a recommendation by the Health Ministry. The face masks will be allotted to students at 46,000 primary and secondary schools. About half a million face masks will also be distributed to teachers. A steering committee led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) is handling the reopening, drafting documents such as the Safe School Operation Guideline and an Infrastructure Analysis Strategy. The preparation for reopening will also include allocation of infrared thermometers to schools in regional states. There are estimated to be over 3,000 private and close to 50,000 public schools in the country, according to data from the Ministry of Education.


Radar

HEFTY GREEN

Street vendors around the Shola area take a rest in the shades of the capital's newly planted trees. Upon reporting on its 10-month performance before Parliament, the Agriculture Minister, Girma Amentie indicated that up to 43pc of the arable land in the country has been rendered acidic. This requires large amounts of limestone to be imported from abroad; the tight forex crunch has not allowed the Ministry of Finance to fund the endeavour easily. Following the rallying call of the Prime Minister...


Radar

DAMP DENIMS

Residents of communal houses around the Weji area hang their clothes on the fences outside. Textile manufacturing accounts for 87pc of Ethiopia's products from industrial parks. Expulsion from the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to the war in the North resulted in Ethiopia being expelled from the preferential trade act. Most companies choosing to rent sheds within the industrial parks do so out of a desire to access the duty-free privileges provided for African countries. Ethiopi...


Radar

PRICY PLEASURES

Vendors put traditional beauty products from the Somali Regional State for sale around Mexico area. In November of last year, the Ministry of Finance banned imported goods under 38 categories, including cosmetics, packed foods, and furniture, from accessing letters of credit. The move resulted in the tripling of costs for cosmetic items like lipstick and nail polish. As Ethiopia ran a 14 billion dollar merchandise trade deficit last year due to import bills hiking by 26pc , a tight clampdown on...