Floods disrupt school for 42,000 pupils

About 42,000 children in the central Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Tete are unable to study because their schools have been flooded, Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias” reported. In Sofala, the floods on the Zambezi and Pungue rivers had closed 50 schools in Chemba, Caia, Marromeu, Dondo, Nhamatanda and Buzi districts, depriving 17,000 children of their studies, the report said. The situation was worse in Tete, where the floods on the Zambezi and its tributaries had completely destroyed 25 schools and threatened a further 50. Twenty-five thousand pupils and 370 teachers were affected in Tete, the report added. On the Zambezi, the Cabora Bassa dam was still releasing less water than the dam lake was receiving from upstream. But if the Zambezi continued to rise, said the Cabora Bassa management, they would have no option but to open more floodgates. In Tete city, the largest urban centre on the banks of the Zambezi, some of the suburbs remained flooded, and the river rose again on Monday.