Critical that pupils are protected from Covid-19

ONCE again, a person can’t help but reiterate how important it is to ensure that our children are well protected from Covid-19.

After weeks of going back and forth, Grade 7 and 12 pupils will today be in class where lessons will resume.

This is a critical time for pupils in these grades. For matrics, it signals the end of their formal schooling, while for Grade 7s it is a step into another chapter of their lives – high school. Therefore, society can’t afford to gamble with their lives.

Last week, some matrics from Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg, found themselves standing outside the school gates.

This was after it emerged that they had not received notification that classes had been postponed as per a statement released by Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Sunday night. The announcement of schools only reopening on June 8, instead of June 1, also left many parents’ arrangements in disarray.

It is unfathomable how the Department of Education could have failed to let parents and pupils know a day before that it had decided to halt the reopening of schools.

It is certainly no secret that Motshekga finds herself under immense pressure. Over this weekend, her department still had to consult with unions and various stakeholders over the state of readiness at schools.

While it is the right of the department to fulfil its mandate and ensure that children obtain a quality education by resuming teaching at schools, it is also the right of teachers to know that they will be working under suitable and safe conditions.

Yesterday, Motshekga gave an update on what measures her department would be taking to ensure that children and teachers, as well as key role-players in the education sector, were protected.

Unions and school governing body (SGB) associations have supported the call to reopen schools today. They have, however, warned that their support comes with the clear understanding that no school that is not compliant may open.

The unions and SGB associations cautiously welcome the progress.

As many parents release their children to start schooling in a totally different atmosphere, it is our wish that they be well looked after and that no parents should ever find themselves having to bury their young ones.