Angie’s big backtrack

SCHOOL: RISING PANDEMIC FIGURES FORCES MINISTER TO CUT BACK ON GRADES

Only Grade 6 and 11 back today with schools ready for Grade Rs also open.

With over 2 000 teachers infected by Covid-19 and 10 000 more reporting risk factors and allowed to work from home, the basic education yesterday announced that a further 2.5 million pupils in three grades are expected to report to school this morning.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said yesterday 11 teachers and four non-teaching staff have died from the virus. There were reports that Covid-19 had claimed three pupils.

She confirmed that plans had been significantly amended because of the massive spikes in infections in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.

Original plans, which were gazetted, were that Grades R, 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, and 11 would all be back at their desks today. This has now been reduced to just Grade 6 and 11, with some in Grade R whose schools are fully prepared for their return.

Expected back at school, according to the department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, are a total of 775 820 Grade Rs and 992 132 in Grade 6 as well as 824 802 Grade 11s.

He had previously indicated that for the first phase of the return to school process, they had anticipated over 1.6-million pupils to resume schooling for Grade 7 and 12 pupils in June, saying this constituted 13.4% of the about 13 million pupils.

But Motshekga said since schools reopened, a total of 2 740 teachers out of the more than 440 000, as well as 260 pupils were infected by the Covid-19.

She said the infections mirrored the country’s trend as the most affected schools were in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape, which have recorded a higher number of cases and deaths.

The minister said 968 of the 26 0000 schools reopened were closed, then reopened again after they were disinfected and that 11 teachers, four non-teaching staff and three pupils had reportedly succumbed to the virus.

“The return of teaching and non-teaching staff also requires risk assessment processes, including those teachers over 60 who have comorbidities. About 10 000 of them have been permitted to work from home, meaning 2.5% out more than 400 000 employed by the state. We are working with provinces on engaging them productively while at home as we process some requests,” she said.

Despite continued challenges with water and sanitation, as well as the availability of protective equipment and concerns over adherence to social distancing and risks of children infecting parents and the elderly, Motshekga stressed the importance of engaging the young ones or facing grave social consequences.

“It is critically important to ensure the young ones are kept

We are going to find ourselves with major social challenges

constructively occupied, engaged through schooling because they – especially the most vulnerable – are faced with social challenges, particularly violence, unplanned pregnancies, and drug abuse…

“Because of those very dangers we are worried that in the long term we are going to find ourselves with major social challenges that could have come from the pandemic,” the minister warned.

She said provincial departments had identified about 3 500 schools with water challenges, some of which had tanks and needed help with filling them.

Motshekga said at least 1 718 schools had been vandalised during lockdown. She said the vandalism was continuing, with six schools in Gauteng vandalised and three classrooms gutted in North West also last week.