Schools forced to shut
Temporary closure of at least six Bay institutions after positive cases
At least six schools across Nelson Mandela Bay and one in Makhanda have been forced to temporarily close their gates this week after pupils or their families — and in two cases teachers — tested positive for Covid-19.
The affected schools include Woolhope Secondary School in Malabar, Parkside Primary School, Brandwag in Uitenhage as well as both Westering Primary and High Schools, KwaMagxaki High School and Victoria Girls High in Makhanda.
Despite repeated requests for a breakdown of how many schools in the Bay had closed this week, education MEC Fundile Gade’s spokesperson, Vuyiseka Mboxela, failed to provide the figures.
Mboxela initially said the department of education had received a detailed report from the department of health on the matter but she needed clearance for the information to be published.
By the time of going to print, however, Mboxela instead said she was struggling to get details from the metro’s district head of education.
In a letter sent to parents, dated Tuesday, KwaMagxaki High School confirmed a teacher had tested positive for Covid-19 and the school would remain closed while necessary precautions were taken.
In the letter, seen by The Herald, the school appealed to pupils and teachers who had been in contact with the infected person to seek medical assistance.
The letter did not specify when the school would reopen.
In a letter penned by Westering Primary principal Keith McCrindle on Tuesday, parents were told that the family of one of the pupils had tested positive for Covid-19 and the building would be decontaminated. “We felt that it was in the best interests of all grade 7 learners and personnel to remain closed for the rest of the week,” the letter read.
Westering High School principal Stuart Hayward on Tuesday also sent out a circular to parents saying the school had been closed by the department of education after a teacher tested positive.
He said the school had been deep-cleaned and sanitised by a professional cleaning company, and all the necessary protocols had been followed.
According to the letter, the school would reopen on Monday for grade 12s.
Woolhope Secondary in Malabar was the third school on Tuesday to send out a notice.
The school advised all pupils who had been in contact with the affected pupil selfisolate for 14 days.
On Monday, Parkside Primary School also confirmed one of its teachers had tested positive for Covid-19.
The school said no pupils had had contact with the teacher, and staff who had been in contact were advised to consult their doctors.
The school will also reopen on Monday.
Further afield, Brandwag High School in Uitenhage confirmed to The Herald it had five reported cases of Covid-19 at the school.
Principal Steven Zietsman said one was a staff member and the other four were pupils.
“The school was sanitised on Sunday and all necessary protocols were observed.
“Eighteen teachers who were in direct contact with the positive cases are currently selfisolating,” Zietsman said.
Victoria Girls High School in a Facebook post by principal Warren Schmidt advised parents and grade 12 pupils that one of its pupils had tested positive.
The post states that after consulting with representatives from the department of health and the department of basic education a decision was made to send all pupils and staff home.
He did not indicate when the school would reopen.
According to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) document — issued by the national department of basic education and signed off by relevant stakeholders including teacher unions — a number of procedures and protocols must be followed when a teacher or pupil tests positive for Covid-19.
This includes, but is not limited to, schools contacting the relevant public health officials to discuss the case.
A decision on whether to close the school would then be made.
“Preparing for the possible closure of a school should only be considered following recommendations from the accountable public health official.
“Temporarily closing a school is a possible strategy to prevent or slow the continued spread of Covid-19 in the
school community,” the document states.
The document also gives advice on how to provide emotional support for pupils and staff.
According to the document, the most common reactions included anxiety, distress and depression.
“These reactions may result from a fear of contracting the illness, the ability to recover from the illness or even experiencing the death of family members, colleagues or classmates.
“Learners, educators and school management have a responsibility to care for themselves and each other,” the SOP states.
National Teachers Union (Natu) president Allen Thompson
said the already dire situation in education was being exacerbated by the fact that as winter grips the country the impending flu season would more than likely show an increase in infection levels at schools.
“This has already been indicated to the department of education.
“The situation needs to be monitored [but] we need to try our best to save the year for the grade 12s,” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, the department needed to reconsider the reopening of other grades while infection rates were high.
“It is not a wise idea to reopen the other grades as we run the risk of infecting more learners and educators,” Thompson said.
While schools and other stakeholders grappled with the consequences of reopening and closing schools, teen wellness coach and educator Janine Shamos said there was definitely a sense of anxiety and uncertainty among pupils.
“I personally feel that we’re not doing any good with the on-again, off-again approach,” Shamos said.
Shamos said she had dealt with many calls and questions from parents wanting to know what the was best — sending their children back or not.
“It’s also critical that there is an ongoing conversation, so if school was going to go back and the next day parents were told no, then there needs to be an immediate discussion with the kids about how they felt about that.
“Covid-19 is still very much an unknown and there is a lot of fake news around so kids may hear very different stories about the pandemic and about staying safe.
“Parents and teachers need to be prepared for that,” Shamos said.
In terms of concentration, Shamos said, being back at school would not be the same and that would create extra anxiety.
“It is a tough and stressful time and we all need to be careful of pushing emotion off as ‘Ugh it’s Covid, everyone is stressed’.
“We need to really listen to others and express our own emotions and fears in a safe place with no judgment,” Shamos said.