Learners to return to class full time
THE Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said it was ready to allow all learners to return to class full-time as they were less likely to be hospitalised or die from Covid-19 complications than adults.
The return of all learners would be beneficial, because they would get back into a regular routine, WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said.
She said learners on the rotation system often required certain concepts and lessons to be “refreshed”, instead of picking up daily on what they had learnt the day before.
Hammond added that while lesson packs had been arranged for at-home learning, the time spent on education-related activities at home could not be monitored.
Her comment followed a heated debate as the Department of Basic Education (DBE) said it was pondering whether all primary school pupils should be back at school full-time.
UWC Education faculty’s deputy dean of research, Rouaan Maarman, said it would be a good decision, because infection levels were low and learners have already missed out on many learning opportunities.
Maarman said learners would carry the curriculum backlog with them throughout their schooling and even beyond school.
“Learners also fell into habits of non-educational activities at home over the last year, and they’ve lost out on structured educational and social growth which only takes place in a school setting,” said Maarman.
Progressive Principals Association spokesperson Anthea Adriaanse said what should be on the discussion table is how the current curriculum should be restructured, as many schools were not coping with the loaded expectations of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements in a normal year, and this has been exacerbated and glaringly emphasised during the pandemic.
Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools deputy chief executive Jaco Deacon said the return to school was long overdue.
He said learners should be allowed to return to school, especially after the department published the new directions which allowed for contact sport to continue in schools.
“It doesn’t make sense if two children can tackle each other in rugby and kick the ball and make contact, but are not allowed to sit next to each other in a class,” Deacon said.
However, Educators Union of SA provincial chairperson André de Bruyn said: “The department can’t even supply decent personal protective equipment for schools. Neither can it guarantee the safety of its employees. Teachers with comorbidities face overcrowded classrooms on a daily basis.“
National Professional Teachers Organisation of SA executive director Basil Manuel said unions needed to be engaged. He said they were aware of research that was conducted, and that some people were supporting the full return of learners.
“We are not saying we are not supporting it. We are saying we must have an open debate about it, and we must look at the real conditions on the ground,” said Manuel.
He said the research was done in places with relatively small learner numbers, and how would that work in places with overcrowded classes?