Parents stressed as preparations to open schools begin

“I will go to school with my son on the first day it reopens,” said Surprise Mgidi from Soshanguve, north of Pretoria.

Mgidi is one of the parents who is concerned about her son’s health and education as the education department prepares to get pupils back to school in the midst of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Mgidi will accompany her son to satisfy her concerns about the real possibility that he might be exposed to the virus.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced the proposed plan on Thursday evening.

Read: Schools may reopen in a month for Grades 7 and 12

Schools on fire

Some principals have other problems on top of trying to ensure that they curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus in their schools.

Mgidi’s son, Sibusiso (19), is a matriculant at Soshanguve High School, which is one of 962 schools that have been vandalised across the country since March.

According to the principal, Sidney Sibiya (55), the school hasn’t had electricity since its admin block was burnt down early last month.

“The distribution board, which provides power to the whole school, was burnt down. We also had files that contained information on pupils and teachers. That is all gone,” Sibiya told City Press.

“We have been engaging with the department about getting mobile classrooms that we can use when we reopen.”

Gauteng education spokesperson Steve Mabona said that they had plans to “re-establish” schools that were vandalised, but needed to adhere to the regulations of the lockdown when doing so.

“We would like to thank the community for informing us about acts of vandalism that take place,” he added.

In Gauteng alone, police had “arrested 95 suspects for crimes relating to the burglary and torching of schools since March”, said provincial commissioner Elias Mawela.

Kgomotso Hans is the principal of Amogelang Secondary in Soshanguve, which also had its administration block torched.

“Our ablution facilities were also vandalised and copper pipes for the toilets were stolen. Our school was classified as quintile 1, meaning that we are one of the poorest. It’s going to be difficult, but pupils will not be returning all at once, so we can use other classrooms in the meantime,” he told City Press.

He added that the safety of pupils should be prioritised.

“Pupils and teachers need to have access to sanitisers, gloves and all other equipment. I’m concerned that the pupils haven’t seen each other in a while and will be hugging each other when they come back.

“I don’t have a problem with them returning to school, but they need to be strictly monitored to ensure that they practise social distancing,” he said.

Mixed bag of feelings

Mgidi said that, given the time lost and the Covid-19 pandemic, she would rather have the academic calendar postponed.

“I’m worried, not only because they’ve been closed for a long time, but also because they might come into contact with the virus,” she said.

Sithokozisi Nhlengethwa, who teaches business studies at Soshanguve High, said that, while he has a WhatsApp group to check on pupils’ progress during the lockdown, limited access to data has been a challenge.

“Some pupils don’t have WhatsApp or even phones. When I send them documents, I also take screenshots in case they don’t have apps to open them.

“There is a lot of careful planning that will need to take place to ensure that social distancing and sanitising takes place, or we must rethink the academic year,” he said.

Mary Makhubela, whose son Tinyiko Makhubela (17) is also a matriculant at Soshanguve High, said that, while she’s worried about what might happen once the schools reopen, there is a lot of catching up to do.

“They [the pupils] have lost a lot of time. They will go to school and come straight home afterwards. Spending less time on the streets will ensure that they have more time to focus on their books and this will decrease their chances of contracting Covid-19,” she said.

The department

“We want to express our deep concern about what is happening in our schools since the lockdown was imposed. The theft, vandalism and burglaries have taken place in all provinces,” said Motshekga.

In addition to providing all pupils with training and orientation on their return to school, the department also said it had taken measures that include sanitising schools, and providing the necessary protective material and infrastructure.

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