Teachers still anxious for reopening
TEACHERS at Liesbeeck Primary School in Mitchells Plain are armed with thermometers, sanitisers and masks, but remain cautious about their safety ahead of the nationwide schools reopening.
The teachers yesterday cleaned and sanitised surfaces and prepared classrooms for the return of Grade 7 pupils next Monday.
This is in line with national education department regulations that grades 7 and 12 pupils should return to school on June 1.
Other grades are to re-enter schools in a phased-in approach.
Faldielah Haupt was confident in the school’s Covid-19 screening routine that anyone entering the premisise would have to undertake.
“I’m confident that we are prepared. We have put all safety precautions in place. However, it’s still up to parents if they will send their children to school,” Haupt said.
“I am scared for my health but we are doing this for the children. I am an educator. My job is to teach and I must carry out what I signed up for,” she added.
Co-worker Irafaan Abrahams said staff needed to get back to work.
“Covid-19 is here to stay. As staff, we try to make the school comfortable for pupils. We have about 120 Grade 7 pupils coming in next week,” he said.
“Pupils are football crazy. How are they going to adhere to social distancing?
“We have red dots set out so they know what distance they must observe. But they live close to each other and see each other all the time.
“The education department told us that the first two weeks must be more like orientation, to talk about the virus and how it impacts on everybody’s lives. That helps us settle in.
Abrahams added: “I work with an NGO. We have been feeding people. The same pupils that I am teaching are also standing in a line for something to eat.”
Jonovan Rustin, provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union, said most schools were not ready for next week’s reopening.
“We are not saying schools must close forever, but the workplace must be prepared. There are 12 schools in the Western Cape where teachers returned with Covid-19,” said Rustin.
Education MEC Debbie Schäfer visited three Cape Town schools this week and was “extremely impressed” with the preparations so far.
“Although there is anxiety, teachers were preparing the classrooms, preparing the school, ensuring desks and chairs are spaced 1.5m apart,” she said.