Chengelo is a private Christian coeducational boarding school in rural Zambia, established in 1988, catering for preschool to Upper Sixth, with just over 500 students on roll, 17 of which are in Lower Sixth, and 7 of which are in Upper Sixth. The school year begins in January and ends in November, with Cambridge IGCSE, AS and A Levels taking place in the October-November session each year.
Since the advent of Covid-19 in Zambia, schools were closed for part of Term 1 and 2 in 2020, with students working online. Exam classes were allowed to return to school in late June 2020. In the school year 2021, the opening of schools was delayed by two weeks in January, and then with the advent of the third wave in July 2021, schools shut abruptly. After some time online, and then the August holiday, exam classes returned to school at the end of August, and began their postponed mocks on 1st September 2021.
This means that there has been a considerable amount of disruption for students both in 2020 and 2021, and particularly in July this year, where the uncertainty over staying open or closing caused considerable anxiety for many.