No classes yet:
MOST schools are preparing to reopen on Monday, but several schools south of Durban have decided against doing so.
The reopening for grade 7 and 12 pupils was expected on June 1, but on Sunday night Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, postponed this until June 8.
She said that school staff must instead use this week to prepare for the arrival of pupils.
On Monday morning, she apologised for the delay. She said she had to urgently engage with the relevant stakeholders on the resumption of classes.
Motshekga said the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) received three critical reports, which included the state of readiness of schools, the state of delivery of water tanks and water, and a technical report from the heads of the Education Department’s Committee.
“Based on these reports, it became clear that the sector was at different levels of readiness. It was for this reason that the CEM determined that the sector requires more time to boost its state of readiness for school reopening, in order to comply with the health and safety standards on Covid-19.”
Clint Leverton, the spokesperson for the Merewent Extension of the School Governing Bodies (SGB) Forum, said at least 18 schools in the district would not open as children’s lives should not be experimented with. The Merewent Extension forms part of the Wentworth and Merebank Combined SGB Forums, which recently wrote to the Department of Basic Education.
They said that they refused to reopen until the department accepted full responsibility for any possible Covid-19-related incidents at schools that might lead to disability or death.
The schools that would not reopen include Assegai Primary, Austerville Primary, Collingwood Primary, Durban East Primary, Gardenia Primary, Wentworth Primary, Fairvale Secondary, Umbilo Secondary, Wentworth Secondary and Merebank Secondary.
“The government needs to lead by example and open Parliament first,” said Leverton.
“Our children and educators are not experiments and should not be treated as such. I would rather see a child miss a day at school than see their name on a tombstone.”
Leverton said that since the announcement that schools would reopen, their schools were still waiting for personal protective equipment (PPE) from the department.
“We were told if we did not receive the proper PPE in time, the principals and SGBs needed to source their own,” he said.
He added that SGBs were not qualified to interview personnel for the deep-cleaning of schools.
“This is the responsibility of the department, which they are passing on to SGBs and principals. If anything goes wrong, the department will then blame the schools.”
Leverton said many schools had small classrooms that were not conducive to social distancing, and teachers could not be expected to monitor and implement sanitising while still being expected to teach.
His message to pupils was: “We are not here to cripple or cancel the school year. We are trying to ensure the environment is completely safe first. Your lives matter. You are not an experiment, which is why we are continuing this fight.”
Meanwhile, Dr Macken Mistry Primary School in Newlands West is ready to reopen.
“Our school is in readiness to open for pupils next week,” said Pompey Sukool, the principal.
“All our PPE has been received for both teachers and pupils, and our school has been deep-cleansed and sanitised.”
He said social distancing measures had been put in place to receive pupils in Grade 7 and later Grade 6.
Sukool, however, worries about being able to safely accommodate all pupils when schools reopen to all the grades.
“We can foresee challenges. Social distancing, for one, is going to be a problem.”
New West Secondary, also in Newlands West, has made provision to accommodate its Grade 12 pupils.
In a letter to parents, R Surandernath, the principal, provided an outline on what procedures needed to be followed when the pupils arrived.
“When Grade 12 pupils report to the school, they must enter through the gates on the grounds and they are required to remain on the grounds until processing and screening have been completed.
“Please note that every effort will be made to follow all the necessary protocols, but it requires the greatest of commitment from each pupil.”
He said any pupil who disregarded directions and instructions would immediately be sent home.
“We cannot allow any pupil to compromise the safety of another pupil or any member of my staff.”
Surandernath said no one could share food, water bottles or stationery, and that social distancing of 1.5m was mandatory.
“Parents are advised to prepare a sanitary pack for their children. It should include a mask, a small liquid or gel sanitiser, a pair of latex gloves, tissues or toilet paper and a small soap. This is to protect your greatest asset.”
While schools prepare, Kwazi Mshengu, the MEC for Education in KZN, said large quantities of PPE in the uMlazi, Pinetown and Zululand districts had disappeared.
“It is said that this PPE disappeared en route to circuit offices and schools.
“The disappearance will cost the department millions of rand, which the department does not have,” he said on Tuesday.
The MEC has since directed the head of department to urgently institute an investigation into the disappearance of the equipment.