Reopening of schools : Angie under fire

Unions and parents have blasted basic education minister Angie Motshekga for her decision to reopen schools on June 1, saying they were nowhere close to being ready.

Despite some reports suggesting schools in Covid-19 hotspots would remain closed, the minister emphasised that all schools would reopen to grade 12 and 7 pupils at the beginning of next month, regardless of infection rates. Other grades would return in phases.   

Motshekga said the revised school calendar would be gazetted “soon”. This would indicate the opening and closing dates and the breaks in between.

The minister said parents did still have the option of keeping their children at home if they felt that conditions at school were too risky, but this would necessitate that the children were home-schooled.

Water and sanitation issues had been addressed, Motshekga said. 

"The delivery of the Covid-19 essentials are being done in all provinces to ensure that they are stored in safe places. The items regarded as essential are sanitizers, masks, water and sanitation, and of course the schools will be cleaned and most are being cleaned as we speak," she said.

It had been agreed that provinces should move at the same pace to ensure "nobody is left behind". 

"The amount of time available in a school day will determine the duration of the period by subject. We will be using innovative methods about how we meet health, safety, social or physical distancing requirements. The trimmed curriculum will be sent to school for planning purposes, it is being worked on a continuous basis."

The department of basic education is working with the department of transport to manage how pupils are taken to and from school. 

"Everybody will sanitise their hands on entering a bus. Distance between learners will be managed, and there will be the compulsory wearing of masks throughout the school day, starting before learners board transport, " the minister said.

 But Motshekga's announcement met with immediate criticism. 

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) has been warning for weeks about the dangers of reopening schools when the country's coronavirus cases continued to rise. 

Sadtu  media officer  Nomusa Cembi told DispatchLIVE: "We are studying the minister's address with extreme caution. We will monitor closely to see if the safety measures brought to our schools will happen. We will then advise our members on a way forward after we monitor the situation."

But educators and parents in the Eastern Cape were “uncertain” about the reopening.

SGB chairperson and parent of a grade 12 pupil at Greenfields Secondary School in East London Leon Cassels said: “We are not ready to open schools on June 1. This is our observation at a number of schools across the province that are heavily dependent on government funding. I have my reservations about this date.”

He said re-opening on June 1 would be a “tricky situation” as some schools still faced challenges of overcrowding, which would make it impossible to observe social distancing measures.  

“The minister needs to prove that significant measures will be taken to put parents at ease about taking their children back to school. How will overcrowding be addressed when the social distancing regulation stipulates that people are to maintain a distance of 1.5m away from each other?” he said.

Casels said Motshekga's speech  was “very generic with no specifics.”

Motshekga said special schools would undergo a different set of preparations to receive pupils on June 1.

The Eastern Cape has 46 special schools.

Amanda Someketa, the chairperson of Vukuhambe, said parents had “question marks” about the reopening date.

“Our school is in no state to re-open on June 1. It is still a mess from the cases of vandalism which we have experienced during this national lockdown. The minister’s speeches have neglected special schools time and time again. There need to be specifics surrounding our children,” said Someketa.

However, a school teacher who spoke to DispatchLIVE on condition of anonymity as she is not authorised to speak to the media, called June 1 a “realistic date".

“The phasing-in approach of the different grades will help us as teachers to manage the health regulations and conduct our checks and screenings. We will be participating in a teacher orientation that will prepare us for the arrival of pupils. Schools have also been allocated with a compliance officer. I think there comes a difficulty at times for the minister to clearly articulate the work that has been taking place at schools,” she said.

But the teacher said there were concerns over schools that fell in the lower quintiles which had water and sanitation challenges and overcrowding.