All systems go for reopening of schools
AS LEARNERS across the country head back to school today after being away from class for more than two months, the Basic Education Department is still in the process of revising a reworked 2020 school calendar.
Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced yesterday that 95% of schools were ready and work was under way to prepare the remaining 5% for learners. “The sector, with the assistance of our partners, will strive to deal with the remaining 5% to ensure that the unfettered rights to health, safety, and basic education for all South African children are protected,” she said.
“The golden rule is, there will be no school that will resume if not ready to do so. For the remaining 5% or so, alternative measures for learners have been developed by different districts, such as temporarily using neighbouring schools, using underutilised spaces in boarding schools, and putting other learners in camps. Because some of the alternatives need consultations with parents, provinces will be engaging parents and following the appropriate protocols to get parental concessions.
“Other than affirming health, safety, and social distancing measures and requirements, the (directives) uphold the phased reopening of public and independent schools, starting with grades 7 and 12; followed by a cluster of grades on July 6; and the last cluster of grades reopening on August 3. We are in the process of revising the 2020 school calendar year, to accommodate the peculiarities brought by the... Covid19 pandemic.”
She said they were continuing to work with the departments of Health
and Social Development to ensure that the health and psychosocial needs of the school communities were met.
In a joint statement the five teacher unions, the SA Democratic Teachers Union, National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of of SA, SA Onderwysersunie, National Teachers Union, and Professional Educators Union, together with school governing body (SGB) associations, cautiously welcomed schools’ reopening.
“With the overall school readiness said to be 94%, the unions and SGB associations consequently support the call to re-open schools on June 8, with the clear understanding that no school may open that is not Covid-19 compliant. It should be stated that three out of the nine provinces were still experiencing challenges with regard to the delivery of water tanks, which will make the resumption of learning and teaching impossible unless alternative measures are taken to ensure that all learners receive an education.”
The organisations said that they were thankful for the PPE deliveries and the improved allocation of water and sanitation facilities at schools.
The unions said they will closely monitor the promise made by the department to complete the outstanding water tank deliveries, toilets, and additional classes. “We… wish to caution against overzealous ‘recovery’ plans that further traumatise our teacher and education support workers. We remind schools that only our matric classes are faced with catching up on work missed.”