By Own Correspondent| Parents withheld their children from attending school on Friday despite calls by government for schools to open since the situation had normalised.

Most parents told ZimEye that they wanted to assess the situation and make sure that the environment was now safe for their children to attend school.

This is despite that teachers turned up for duty at their respective work stations.

Said a teacher who spoke on condition of anonymity:

“Yes we were at school but the learners did not turn up and we ended up just sitting. The learners did not come to school.”

Primary and Secondary Education minister Paul Mavhima implored parents to take their children to achool starting next week Monday.

Said Mavhima:

“…..we are urging parents to take their children to school……we are calling on schools that experience any challenges to report to the district.”