KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AT HOME

Parents advised after teachers at schools in KZN test positive for virus

CHATSWORTH parents have been asked not to send their children to school.

School governing bodies of Chatsworth Secondary, Protea Secondary, Southlands Secondary, Merryhill Primary, Summerfield Primary, Oceanview Primary, Fairhaven Primary, Evergreen Primary, Coedmore Primary,

Excelsior Primary and Kwavulindlebe School for the Deaf sent letters to parents on Thursday asking them to keep their children at home.

This was after Oceanview Primary in Havenside was forced to close on Thursday after a teacher tested positive for Covid-19.

Hours after schools opened on Monday for grades 7 and 12 pupils, a number of schools in Kwazulunatal

were forced to close, including Apollo Secondary School and Savannah Park Secondary School in Chatsworth, Clairwood High School and Deccan Road Primary School in Pietermaritzburg.

A teacher at each of the schools had tested positive.

Brandon Pillay, chairperson of the Bayview Community Policing Forum, said he had been approached by concerned parents to assist.

“There has been a growing call from a number of parents to close schools. In the first week of opening, we have already had so many schools closing because of positive cases. We cannot have this happening at any other school. The trauma it is putting the children under is unacceptable.

“The governing bodies don’t have the power to close schools. Therefore, we are appealing to parents to keep their children at home,” said Pillay.

He said a joint letter had been sent on Friday to education authorities appealing for the closure of all schools with immediate effect.

“We are of the view that we cannot risk the lives of both our learners and educators as well as our community as the ripple effect is that once a learner or educator tests positive, their families become vulnerable.

“We believe strongly that our schools should remain closed until such time that the virus has reached a peak and the number of cases starts to decrease.

“We call upon all parents to keep your children at home with immediate effect while we are consulting with the Department of Education, principals, and teacher unions,” read the letter.

The governing bodies agreed that they would use alternative methods of teaching, through Whatsapp groups, online classes, local radio stations, print media and worksheets and learning material from school.

Rumen Maistry, Deccan Road Primary School governing body chairperson, said all teachers, cleaning and administrative staff had been tested.

“The school will remain closed until all results come back. It is likely that the school will remain closed for two weeks. We will continue to deep clean and sanitise the school,” said Maistry.

He said the education department should have revisited its decision of opening schools.

“As much as everyone would like life to return to normal, I think the education department acted prematurely. We are at the peak of the virus, and we are entering the flu season,” said Maistry.

Kwazi Mthethwa, provincial education spokesperson, said the schools were closed to allow officials from the health department to take over in terms of testing the educators and disinfecting the schools.

Lennox Mabaso, spokesperson for the provincial government, said the government had taken a decision to intensify testing and screening in schools that are in hotspot areas such as ethekwini and ilembe.

He said that as a precautionary measure, the schools were temporarily closed to conduct risk assessments and for decontamination to take place. The schools are likely to open next week.

He said Premier Sihle Zikakala would hold a briefing today to give details on their response and provide a Covid-19 update.