Back to school: what’s the plan?
As South African learners head back to the classroom we answer all your burning questions about safety and logistics
NO MORE frantic googling to figure out how to explain long division to your child. No more nagging, begging and tearing out your hair as you try to get your kids to buckle down and do their schoolwork.
At first glance there seem to be obvious upsides to Grade 12 and Grade 7 learners returning to school from 1 June, with the rest to follow. They’ll get back to proper schooling, be out of your hair while you try to work, and they’ll generally start to get back to normal life with their friends.
But the fear of Covid-19 is still ever-present, leaving many parents to wonder just how exactly their kids are going to be safe once they’re back on the school benches.
Sure, global statistics show the vast majority of children who contract coronavirus get only a mild form of the disease. But what if yours is among the tiny minority who develops life-threatening complications? What steps are schools taking to protect them from catching the virus?
And is there even any point in sending them back? Will they really be able to catch up on all the work that’s been missed?
We answer your questions.
THE BACK-TO-SCHOOL PLAN
Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga
Srecently announced that in preparation for the reopening of schools teachers would return to work a week earlier to get everything in place for learners to return.
One of the most important aspects of the reopening of schools is the safety of teachers and children. Safety measures will include:
Physical distancing in classrooms with no more than two learners sharing a desk. No hugging or handshaking. Direct contact must be avoided. Daily screenings when learners arrive at school, which will include temperature tests and looking out for flu-like symptoms. Cloth masks to be supplied and worn by learners and teachers at all times.
Deep-cleaning of classrooms before the start of the school day.
Sanitising of hands on entering classrooms and limited movement of learners between classes.
Where possible, classes should be arranged in small groups that maintain social distancing. No assemblies or extramurals, and no events such as sports matches, choir practices or festivals.
In addition, all learners, teachers and support staff will receive training so they know what’s expected of them.
“A basic and essential hygiene and sanitation package has been developed, and provinces are procuring the critical items,” Motshekga said. “These include cleaning and disinfection materials, personal protective equipment (PPE), sanitisers, hand-washing soap, gloves, cloth masks and thermometers.”
Many parents have concerns about the plan. With classes of around 25 pupils – and up to 50 in many less privileged schools – will it really be possible for kids to be kept apart at a safe distance?
Even among the experts there’s heated debate.
The one-size-fits-all approach taken by the government in planning the reopening of schools is irrational and arbitrary and endangers the lives of pupils, teachers and families, says the National Association of Parents in School Governance.
The association’s president, Mahlomola
Kekana, warns that if schools are allowed to reopen on the same day we move down to level 3 of the lockdown (1 June), it will only “exacerbate an already dire situation” and lead to even more infections.
Meanwhile, more than 120 000 citizens have signed One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane’s petition, which seeks to keep schools closed for at least another three months. Maimane, who resigned as leader of the Democratic Alliance last year, slammed the government’s decision to reopen schools as a “risky and dangerous gamble with the lives of our nation’s young people”.
Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), says that with the move to level 3 of lockdown and more sectors of the economy reopening, schools will eventually need to reopen their doors. But he has serious doubts about whether the majority of schools will be ready come 1 June to welcome back their learners safely.
Naptosa teamed up with the Professional Educators’ Union (PEU), the South African Democratic Teachers Union, the National Teachers Union and the Suid- Afrikaanse Onderwysersunie (SAOU) to conduct a survey among nearly 10 000 principals about how ready they feel.
The results are shocking, Manuel tells us.
“79% of those who participated say they haven’t yet received a single regulation [on how to deal with health and safety issues]. 60% say the circuit officers of the department haven’t contacted them – so in other words, the department isn’t functioning.
“And it gets worse: 92% say the school offices haven’t been cleaned and sanitised,” he adds.
In addition, at the time of going to print 94% of principals indicated they hadn’t received sanitisers for their school offices.
Manuel says the unions conducted the survey because teachers and parents are worried.
“What’s clear to us is one of two things: either the minister was speaking optimistically, or she’s been lied to by the
provinces, which created the impression they’re ready,” he adds.
He reveals that someone from Limpopo brought to his attention a circular that schools will have to buy masks for their teachers and learners. “But the minister clearly said every child and teacher will get two masks.”
Paul Colditz, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas), is worried about the state of readiness of rural schools.
As many of them often lack basic provisions such as running water and functioning toilets, it’s already a struggle to maintain hygiene. And now with Covid-19 thrown into the mix, it’s going to be even harder.
PEU general secretary Ben Machipi says the education department has been so focused on catering for the return of Grade 7s and 12s that not enough attention is being paid to how things will work when other grades start returning.
Grade 12s and 7s will be divided into smaller classes and teachers from other grades will be on hand to assist. But what will happen when the whole school is back? Then there won’t ===be enough teachers and classrooms to continue this sensible social-distancing approach, he warns.
Other grades are due to return over the next two months with the last batch, the Grade Rs, expected back on 15 July.
Colditz believes it would have been better to have allowed foundation-phase learners to return to school first ahead of the Grade 7s.
“For example, Grade 1s had only two months of teaching before the schools closed, so teachers will have to start all over again,” he says.
“And many parents who have to go back to work have nowhere to turn because they have no proper supervision at home for their kids. So it would be sensible as far as we’re concerned to reopen younger classes.
“It’s easier for Grade 7s to catch up and to trim their curriculum, but you can’t trim the curriculum for a Grade 1 learner. That child needs to learn to write, read and to calculate.”
SSwho simply don’t want to send their children back to school out of concern for their health have two options, Colditz says:
Distance learning: Either online or by the teacher sending printed worksheets, which children can complete on their own or with the assistance of their parents. Contact the school to discuss options. Home-schooling: Parents can elect to home-school their kids – either by doing the teaching themselves or by employing a tutor. But if they go this route, they must register their children for this option on the basic education department’s website (www.education.gov.za/Programmes/HomeEducation.aspx). The registration has been extended until the end of September and every province has different regulations dealing with home-schooling, Colditz says.
But if you choose this option, your children will be deregistered from their normal school, and you might find yourself in a situation where there’s no space for them if you want to send them back next year, he warns.
“So that’s something parents will have to consider carefully,” he says.