Publications
Partners
The majority of parents were likely to keep their children under their care and not allow them to return to school amid the rising curve of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
This is according to the National Association of School Governing Bodies secretary-general Matakanya Matakanya.
“Parents are saying they will never take their children to the gallows. Sending them back to school is like sending them there to die,” Matakanya said.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced this week that schools would reopen “only if it is safe to do so and the environment allows”.
South Africa has now been on lockdown for more than 35 days, with strict restrictions imposed in a bid to curb the spread of the virus.
Read: Schools may reopen in a month for Grades 7 and 12
Matakanya said there was a concern about who would be there to “monitor the children at school because teachers would be busy in class and with other things”.
“Parents are concerned that supervision and close monitoring will be largely needed to ensure children wash their hands as required, get screened and are in a sanitised environment. There has been a meme on social media of a young boy returning home wearing a classmate’s mask.
This tells you that people are worried about such things and there is a need for government to ensure that there are more than just teachers to ensure the health and safety of pupils,” he said.
The minister explained that they had held wide consultations with various groups, including unions, education bodies and parent bodies, in the discussions about the reopening of schools.
She said plans were in place to ensure that the environment was ready for teaching and learning during the pandemic. However, not everyone was at ease with the idea of schools reopening, with many saying it was going to expose children to the risk of contracting the virus.
It appears now that there are more questions than answers after Motshekga announced plans to send children back to the classroom.
“Parents are asking how can it happen that when we are required to be home and have soldiers enforcing strict regulations on society, we are now asked to take our children back to school. The battle is still on to flatten the rising curve of the virus. We can’t send children back to school when things are still this bad,” Matakanya said.
Motshekga’s announcement was met with disapproval on social media through memes and posts. One of those that went viral was the question on why plans were even made for children to go back to school at a time when the cases of Covid-19 were increasing rapidly.
The announcement to reopen schools came at a time when the country was moving from level 5 of lockdown to level 4. This was just as South Africa was hitting the 5 000 mark in terms of Covid-19 cases.
At that time, the picture of adherence to regulations was alarming, yet there was some improvement in some areas as regulations kept changing, with more people now seen wearing masks.
The provision of masks and sanitisers, and screening formed some of the non-negotiable tasks that various bodies, including teachers’ unions, would have to carry out.
While they have expressed their deep concern about having their members return to work, the SA Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) made it clear that they would only return if everything was in place to ensure their health and safety in the workplace.
Motshekga announced that officials, including some office-based staff, were due to return to work tomorrow to prepare and ensure readiness for the ultimate reopening of schools. She said school management teams were expected back on May 11, while teachers would follow a week later, on May 18.
The union released a statement yesterday in which it made it clear to the department that it was up to them to ensure that everything was ready for the suggested return to work and the subsequent reopening of schools.
The union said this week that schools should not be allowed to become the new epicentres of the virus.
Motshekga this week promised that work was under way to ensure all was in place, including the procurement of masks to be provided to pupils and teachers, as well as sanitisers.
She said they were also going to ensure that schools without running water were provided with some as it was advisable for everyone to wash their hands often to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.
This effectively means that the department has got a month to get all these plans in place before the first batch of pupils walk into a classroom.
Sadtu said it would monitor the implementation of the plans and that all the promised issues were dealt with to the letter.
“The announced dates will help us and the public hold Motshekga accountable for the delivery of essentials as required for the fight against the spread of the virus. School management teams will have to tick the list of the completed work and determine if the teachers and support staff can return to work,” Sadtu said.
“The school management teams must be screened daily by the health officials, have their social distancing plans determined and then plan for the teachers’ return. We stand firm that no schools shall open until our concerns are addressed.”
Motshekga made firm promises that the unions would be appeased on the non-negotiables.
“We will work together with all stakeholders to ensure that the plans are implemented to the letter. We will establish Covid-19 control teams in every province and every district, circuit and school,” she said.
“We will intensify our communication modalities to ensure that communities, parents, teachers and pupils know and understand the challenges faced, and the remedies that are necessary to keep everyone within our school premises safe and healthy.”
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
