Challenge awaits schools when millions of pupils return next month
Amid several Covid-19 outbreaks in schools across SA, a bigger challenge awaits when millions more pupils are expected to return to class next month.
This is as the number of coronavirus infections increases and the pandemic is expected to hit its peak in SA.
Grade 7 and grade 12 pupils returned to school on June 8.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), research indicates that children and adolescents are as likely to become infected as any other age group and can spread the disease, but are less likely to get severe symptoms.
Though the majority of schools are said to have dealt with the strict regulations governing the way they now function, there are exceptions to that rule.
On Tuesday, the national department of basic education addressed the situation in the Eastern Cape, a Covid-19 hotspot, after 204 pupils and hostel assistants tested positive at Makaula Senior Secondary School in KwaBhaca.
The department said the confirmed cases were picked up as a result of the stringent measures at all schools to contain the spread of the virus.
While that is an extreme example, many schools have had to close to be sanitised since opening, while others have not been able to open at all as they do not meet the requirements.
In Gauteng, for instance, 116 public ordinary schools, out of 2,045, remain closed, education
MEC Panyaza Lesufi said on Thursday. Among the schools still closed, most did not reopen because they had no pupils returning, he said.
Four of those still closed had infrastructure-related challenges, which ranged from water, sanitation and electricity to fencing.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga said earlier this week the cases being reported in schools show that many people already had the virus but did not know it until they were screened and tested.
“The department is working hard to make sure that all schools are Covid-19 compliant before [they] can receive learners,” she said. Motshekga urged members of the community to avoid visiting schools because that increased the risk of infections.
But these experiences raise the question of what may come for schools when most pupils return to class on July 6.
The DA’s Gauteng education spokesperson, Khume Ramulifho, says his concerns are on a basic level, such as whether there will be enough classrooms to ensure social distancing and whether there will be enough teachers available.
Elijah Mhlanga, the basic education department spokesperson, acknowledged that a challenge awaits SA’s schools when the number of pupils increases early in July. He said the department is concerned that South Africans are seemingly not adhering to health and safety requirements, resulting in more infections.
He said even when all the measures are in place at schools, at the end of the day pupils go home, which is outside the school’s control.
Both Paul Colditz, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools, and Chris Klopper, CEO of teachers union the SAOU, said their member schools are functioning well.
However, they raised some pertinent issues. Klopper said the school reflects the community — where infections spread in schools, it seems to correlate with those seen in the community.
Referring to pressure on teachers, Colditz said people overlooked the fact that what places more pressure on teachers is that they now also have to act as health workers and law enforcers.
PUPIL SUSPENSIONS
Colditz said the federation takes breaches of the measures in place so seriously that it has advised its members to suspend a pupil if they put others at risk with their behaviour. “You can’t tolerate children misbehaving in the process.”
But the main concern remains for schools that were previously disadvantaged.
Mugwena Maluleke, general secretary of the SA Democratic Teachers Union, said more would have to be done at formerly disadvantaged schools because it would be difficult for schools to manage more pupils if they struggle to manage grade 7 or grade 12.
“It’s going to be a serious issue. As it is now it’s an issue, so we would have to see how the department has prepared for July 6, so that we are not shocked on July 7 when schools are overwhelmed and they can’t cope with the situation.”
He said it is critical to know whether infections are spreading in schools or whether they are being brought in from communities.