Schools reopening pushed back a week

Schools will reopen on June 8, the basic education department announced on Sunday night.

The announcement came at about 7.20pm on Sunday night after basic education minister Angie Motshekga had twice postponed a media briefing meant to communicate whether schools would reopen or not on Monday.

The decision was taken after the education minister had assessed the state of readiness for the proposed reopening of schools on Monday - a move sharply criticised by teachers' unions and politicians.

Basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the decision to push back the reopening of schools came after extensive consultation.

“[The] Council of Education Ministers received a report from a consortium of service providers co-ordinated by the national education collaboration trust on the external evaluation and monitoring of the state of readiness. Rand Water, as an implementing agent delivering water to 3,500 schools, presented its report.

“The heads of education departments committee also presented a technical report.  All three reports converged on the fact that a substantial number of schools would not be ready for the reopening tomorrow, although tremendous progress had been made by most provinces, which reflected overall an 80% state of readiness,” he said.

Mhlanga said Monday would see teachers returning to schools in preparation for the planned reopening on June 8 for Grade 7 and Grade 12 pupils.

“This whole coming week must be used for proper orientation and training of teachers, mopping and ramping up of all supply chain matters, and final touches to the readiness of each facility for the arrival of learners.

“The date on which the learners have to report back to school is June 8.” 

The new reopening date, announced just less than an hour after the 11th-hour postponement of the media briefing by Motshekga, fuelled speculation that the unions had stopped her schools reopening plan after marathon behind-the-scenes meetings at the weekend.

Motshekga was initially scheduled to address the nation at 4pm on Sunday before she moved it to 6pm.

She later postponed the address to 11am on Monday, with her spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, saying she had not finished consulting stakeholders on the plan.

This was not the first time Motshekga has rescheduled important briefings meant to give direction on the planned reopening of schools. She has done so at least three times recently.

In the Eastern Cape, the education department admitted it had failed to deliver personal protective equipment (PPE) and sanitisers to some schools.

Provincial education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani told DispatchLIVE 30 service providers had been appointed to deliver PPE and sanitisers to schools.

“Deliveries have been happening throughout the weekend but we did anticipate we would not reach some schools until Monday or Tuesday. We anticipate some schools will open by Wednesday or Thursday,” he said, before it was announced that schools would reopen on June 8.

National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA provincial chief executive Loyiso Mbinda said only 35% of PPE and sanitisers had been delivered to schools by the end of business on Thursday.

“The reality is that the Eastern Cape is just not ready to reopen schools,” he said.

To compound the situation, many of the 200 new suppliers appointed by provincial education bosses had only received their appointment letters on Thursday, meaning they did not have enough time to order PPE from their suppliers.

According to statistics he forwarded to the Dispatch on Sunday, the delivery of PPE for teaching staff stood at 91.2% in Joe Gqabi by Thursday, but in the OR Tambo coastal area, it was a mere 3.6%.

According to the report, delivery of PPE for teachers was at:

• 55% in Alfred Nzo east;
• 22% in Alfred Nzo west;
• 45.8% in Amathole east;
• 38% in Amathole west;
• 54.3% in BCM;
• 44.8% in Christ Hani east;
• 8.6% in Nelson Mandela Bay;
• 3.6% in OR Tambo coastal;
• 31.3% in OR Tambo inland; and
• 35.1% in Sarah Baartman.

Pulumani neither confirmed nor denied the figures, but said authorities had anticipated delays in deliveries to schools.

Education MEC Fundile Gade had acknowledged this during a virtual media briefing on Friday, he added.

Mbinda said about 756 schools did not have water tanks while 1,855 had tanks but no water. Some schools in rural areas still had no toilets and no fencing.

Sadtu provincial secretary Chris Mdingi said their members in schools deemed unsafe had also been instructed to stay at home.

“We don't have reserves of their lives stashed somewhere in some cupboard,” Mdingi said.

National Association of School Governing Bodies provincial secretary Mongezi Mashiyi said schools with poor sanitation facilities meant teachers and pupils would be left defenceless without water - an important aspect in fight against the spread of Covid-19.

“Non-negotiables like water, PPE and sanitisers should be delivered to all schools before we even think about opening our schools. Otherwise it's like putting the cart before the horse.”

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