The letter dated 16th December 2020 was written to the mayor of Nyamasheke district. <\/p>\n
In his letter that circulated on social media, Nshimiye said that he could not continue his work due to Covid-19 preventive measures implemented at his school noting \u2018they are against the commandments of God and his Word that I respect.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Nshimiye who was a teacher in Primary 5 and 6 has confirmed to IGIHE that he wrote the letter himself. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am the one who wrote the resignation letter. That is the way it is [Preventing covid-19] is against my faith and the Bible,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Nshimiye said he resigned because his faith beliefs do not allow him to wear a face mask and being forced to wash hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cI often wash hands but willingly without someone else\u2019s pressure. I don\u2019t belong to any faith based organization. I respect Biblical verses,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n
The Director of Education in Nyamasheke district, Alphonse Sinabajije said that he asked the teacher to report himself to the district to discuss the matter face to face but the latter was not able to reach district offices because he can\u2019t wear a face mask. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had summoned him to report himself to the district yesterday but couldn\u2019t find a way because he doesn\u2019t wear a face mask. He cannot be allowed to enter a bus without wearing a face mask. I finally talked to him over the head teacher\u2019s phone. He told me that his biblical faith doesn\u2019t allow him to do so,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n
\u201cI told him that I am also a Christian and referred him to some verses in the bible. He declined to accept my advises saying these measure preventives being implemented are Satanic symbols. He told me, he would rather resign than adhering. I latter saw the letter circulating on social media,\u201d added Sinabajije. <\/p>\n
He revealed that seven students in Mahembe and Karambi sectors have also abandoned school over refusal to wear face masks. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are children who abandoned school because they don\u2019t want to wear face masks in the sector. We have the responsibility to engage in discussions with pupils at the school where he taught and parents to change mindsets and let them know that adhering to COVID-19 preventive measures is not against the word of God. I have seen seven children at Nyarusiza school in Mahembe along with others in Karambi with similar problem,\u201d said Sinabajije. <\/p>\n
Rwanda confirmed the first COVID-19 patient on 14th March 2020. As of today, 7032 people have been tested positive out of 679,132 sample tests of whom 6089 have recovered, 886 are active cases while 57 have succumbed to the virus.<\/p>\n
Figures from the Ministry of Health indicate that the prevalence of recoveries, deaths and new cases respectively stands at 86.5%, deaths at 0.8% and 2.5%.<\/p>\n
Coronavirus symptoms include coughing, flu, and difficulty in breathing. The virus is said to be transmitted through the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract.<\/p>\n
Rwandans are urged to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines, washing hands frequently using soaps and safe water, wearing face masks and respecting social distancing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{Nshimiye Schadrack, an English teacher at Binogo Primary School located in Macuba sector of Nyamasheke district , Western Province has submitted a resignation letter explaining that his beliefs do not allow him to continue his duties during these times requiring the adherence to Covid-19 preventive measures.}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[72,75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-42474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-featured-news-home","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42474"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=42474"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=42474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}