Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘A broken, unequal education system’
A YEAR into the coronavirus pandemic, here are some of the big changes the education sector had to endure.
We take a look at how the deadly virus, which has changed the global community, has affected the country’s education system.
It was nearing the end of the first term, last year, when President Cyril Ramaphosa imposed a national lockdown which commenced on March 27. It was only on May 1, 2020, that the president gradually eased lockdown restrictions to level 4.
According to the South African executive director of Amnesty International, Shenilla Mohamed, the Covid-19 pandemic further worsened the disparity between rich and poor in the country’s education system.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made a broken and unequal system even worse, putting students from poorer communities at a huge disadvantage. Remote learning is not an option for the vast majority.”
School closures, forced move to remote learning
When schools first closed, for almost three months, the widespread lack of internet access needed for remote study was laid bare.
According to the organisation, nationally, only 22% of households have a computer and 10% an internet connection. In the North West and Limpopo provinces, only 3.6% and 1.6% of households respectively, have access to the internet at home.
Matric pupils, in particular, were badly impacted having lost contact learning time, which was vital revision time ahead of the National Senior Certificate examination. Exams started late and the results, unlike in previous years when they were released in January, had to be released towards the end of February.
The closure also affected higher education institutions which meant that academic learning was disrupted and exams had to be postponed until the start of 2021 for some students. This meant that the 2021 academic year at the tertiary level would only start in March.
Hybrid model:
Schools have been forced to adapt to the hybrid model, which allows pupils to attend school every second day, halving pupils’ face-toface learning time.
Hygiene:
Amnesty International said thousands of schools in South Africa have no running water – more than half of schools in some regions. Physical distancing is also impossible in many schools. A study by Stellenbosch University found at least half of South African pupils would not be able to comply with distancing rules due to overcrowded classrooms.
By the beginning of 2021, it was estimated up to 1700 teachers had lost their lives to Covid-19.
School calendar:
Since the start of the second term in 2020, there had been a number of amendments done to the school calendar. At first, the department proposed getting the Grade 7s and 12s back at school first. Those dates were pushed back a bit to June 8.
This delayed the third term, fourth term and with the fear of the second wave, the schools reopening was also pushed back by two weeks to February 15.