Reopening schools is illogical

While the world takes shelter from Covid-19, government plans to send out SA’s children like lambs to the slaughter

The decision to reopen schools is no small matter because it is complex and may prove fatal.

There is no scope for trial and error.

In the current context, to err on the side of caution may be the best option.

Those who imagine schools reopening and wish this would happen at this critical stage may be lacking an understanding of our education system and what it takes to operate a school.

Or they may have simply elected to ignore the glaring realities of our communities and schools.

Those who have a proper understanding will tell you that it is not viable at this stage.

Several factors count heavily against reopening schools now.

The reports of the infection of more than 500 employees at supermarkets in the Western Cape and in other places of work is the clearest indicator that preventing infections is not easy.

Infection control and management

We have been told repeatedly that the Covid-19 coronavirus does not move and that it is people who move it.

The fact is, the worldwide lockdown is premised on the objective to slow down the spread of the virus.

Common sense and logic therefore dictate that reopening schools means increasing the risk of spreading the virus.

It means the movement of millions of people, including children and education workers.

The very essence of the lockdown will be undermined.

We have been told that Covid-19 is uncontrollable and that managing it is complex.

Even the most advanced nations are at the receiving end of its devastating effects.

So while we are battling under strict restrictions, which some are hardly adhering to, how can we expect a miracle at schools?

Interestingly, some healthcare facilities had to be closed after infections occurred.

What will happen if an infection occurs at a school? Will it close? How many will close?

We have been made aware that there are many asymptomatic carriers of the virus.

This means the infection rate may be far higher than we know. How do we then take a risk with children?

If we could not address the lack of water and sanitation in schools, how do we expect children who have no running water to regularly and thoroughly clean their hands with alcohol-based hand sanitiser or wash them with soap and water, as directed by the World Health Organisation?

Impossibility of social distancing

We have been told that one of the effective methods of preventing infection is through social distancing.

It is unrealistic to even imagine that social distancing can be effectively enforced with children both in transit to and from school, as well as in classrooms and on the playground.

Read: Parents stressed as preparations to open schools begin

Children are active beings and they require constant supervision.

To achieve social distancing in the classroom will require a significant reduction in class sizes.

It is a matter of public record that most public schools are overcrowded. Even if you limit the number of children in a class, where are the rest going to be put and who will supervise them?

Contact time

The reality of any reduction is class size and the maintenance of class size inevitably means schools need more time than is currently allocated for an average school day.

With most schools not being well equipped to provide comfort to children, keeping them in school for longer may not be ideal or even realistic.

The level of disruption will undermine any meaningful learning and teaching.

Scholar transport

Millions of children depend on the scholar transport system to get to school.

The current restrictions on public transport mean more vehicles will be required to transport these children.

The restrictions further require strict control and monitoring of vehicles transporting children, as well as the effective use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitisers.

Reopening schools will mean more people on the streets, either escorting children to school or transporting them.

Provincial education departments have been battling to manage this programme under normal circumstances.

Shortage of teachers

The current teacher to pupil ratio, particularly in overcrowded schools, poses a distinct challenge.

How are teachers, who were already overwhelmed prior to Covid-19, expected to cope in this extraordinary situation?

Most public schools don’t even have non-teaching staff to support overburdened teachers.

Those who wish to reopen schools may have forgotten that most schools are hardly safe and the levels of discipline are low.

The authority of teachers has been eroded significantly, making it hard for them to ensure discipline, and the same would apply for adherence to social distancing and hygiene protocols.

We have witnessed with pain how some national caregivers, those healthcare workers who were infected in the line of duty, perished after contracting the virus while trying to save lives.

Our schools hardly have access to basic virus screening, so how can we expect anxious education workers to expose themselves to the risk of infection?

Sanitising and protective gear

National Treasury is reported to have indicated the challenges of procuring PPE.

There are more than 400 000 teachers in the country’s 26 000 public schools.

Government is already battling to provide adequately for health workers who are at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19; how will it be able to provide adequate PPE for education workers?

Not only will education workers need PPE, but so will the 12 million children in our schools.

Also, children must first be trained on how to correctly use PPE and how to maintain it to ensure it lasts longer.

School governing bodies

About three years ago, the basic education department issued a report that suggested that most school governing bodies (SGBs) were dysfunctional.

The report has hardly been acted on, assuming that its findings were, in fact, correct.

Dealing with the current situation requires active parental involvement at various stages, including during decision-making.

If SGBs are indeed as dysfunctional as the report claims, what role can they play to support the functionality of schools?

It is one thing to consult parents or SGBs about issues that affect schools, but it is a different issue to obtain the informed consent of parents regarding their children.

Do they have the full details of what it means to release their children to return to school?

School infrastructure

Owing to inadequate and dysfunctional security, some schools get vandalised during school breaks. Before teaching and learning can even start, there is always repair work to be done.

Naturally, there will be a need for more classrooms if schools are to maintain proper social distancing.

It does not take a week to manufacture and install a modular classroom. What then is the point of having children in school if there isn’t adequate infrastructure?

Do we have the infrastructure to provide for proper screening and isolation? Do we have the capability to attend to children who show signs of exposure to the virus?

A phased-in approach

The phased-in approach is not the answer for both the children and education workers, and the wider society who will be exposed by extension.

Covid-19 has significantly disrupted the academic year, but creating another crisis in trying to resolve a different one is not an option.

Circumstances must change drastically before consideration can be given to reopening schools.

Nothing prevents us from extending this academic year into the next one.

At the end of the day, those who are making these decisions know very well that the blame will be laid at the feet of education workers should things go wrong.

Someone must tell us who will be held responsible for the inevitable.

Mannya is an advocate, writer and executive director of legal services at Unisa

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