Schools reopening: 'A week is nowhere near enough'

A week is nowhere near enough to get many Eastern Cape schools up to scratch for the arrival of pupils. This is the warning of educators and parents after June 8 was announced as the new date for schools to reopen for Grade 12 and 7 pupils.

During a briefing on Monday, the day learning was meant to resume at schools, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said another week was needed to consolidate and ensure all measures were in place for the safe reopening of schools.

This included decontamination, ensuring adequate water and sanitation, provision of PPE and induction of schoolteachers into Covid-19 health & safety requirements.

In an apologetic address to the nation on Monday, the minister said on Saturday May 30 the council of education ministers (CEM) received three critical reports: one each from the National Education Collaboration Trust, Rand Water and the Heads of Departments Committee which showed the education sector was at different levels of readiness.

“It was for this reason that the CEM determined that the sector requires more time to map out its state of readiness for school reopening, to comply with the health and safety standards on Covid-19,” said Motshekga.

Motshegka said 80% of schools were ready to open across the country, but Eastern Cape school representatives painted a bleak picture of the readiness of many provincial schools.

DispatchLIVE spoke to representatives of schools in East London, King William’s Town and Butterworth.

An extreme example is Masibonisane high school in King William’s Town, which does not have any kind of toilets. Teachers and pupils have little option but to relieve themselves in the bushes, a situation that has already sparked a protest in which pupils and parents blocked the N2 in February.

School governing body member Nomawethu Ntshabo said: “Our school doesn't meet water and sanitation standards. The temporary toilets we received after the protest are lopsided and could collapse at any moment.

“Hygiene is a major concern when it comes to these temporary toilets, which stink up the school grounds and make our pupils vulnerable to infections. Our water tanks are running dry and we have not yet received PPE. Things aren't coming together like they are supposed to at our school. We need more than a week to sort things out,” said Ntshabo.

An East London primary schoolteacher, who spoke to DispatchLIVE on condition of anonymity as teachers aren't allowed to speak to the media, said her school had received PPE for teachers but not for pupils.

The teacher said educators and parents had taken matters into their own hands to decontaminate the school and set out visible social distancing mechanisms.

“We have made an appeal to parents to provide masks for the learners as they didn't come with the PPE delivery,” said the teacher.

A parent at Vuluhlanga high school in Butterworth, Mabini Mnguphane, said the school had running water, but “other issues, such as teacher orientation and the delivery of PPE, are still yet to be seen”. 

“Pupils did arrive at school today [Monday] and we as the SGB and educators decided to conduct our own orientation with them on safety measures surrounding the coronavirus. No learning was done. The cleaning of the school was done by teachers and parents and we printed signs for social distancing.” 

“We don't know to what end this will continue as we are using the resilience of teachers and parents to prepare the school for our matric pupils. The department has failed in communicating,” said Mnguphane.

DispatchLIVE also spoke to schools that were well prepared and resumed their learning programmes on Monday.

One of the province's top performing schools, Nyanga high school in Ngcobo, welcomed over 200 matrics back to school.

Headmaster Khulile Qamata said: “As a school we formulated a structured schedule and put aside funds to secure needed resources. We conducted meetings with the SGB and school management team last Monday. On Tuesday we held a meeting with the teachers and on Wednesday with the support staff.

“Each meeting began with a thorough discussion surrounding Covid-19 and how to better understand what we're dealing with. We approached a health practitioner, Dr Fundile Nyathi, who is based in Johannesburg, to conduct a presentation for the teachers. This was a success as it further prepared educators to resume learning,” said Qamata.

He said the school had welcomed its Grade 12 pupils, who are also boarders at the school hostel, on Sunday during a phased-in approach.

Qamata said the approach was done “to allocate sufficient time for screening, allocation of residences, new class allocation and to conduct a hygiene and code of conduct briefing”. 

Stirling Primary principal Peter Johnson said the school received its Grade 7 learners on Monday, as instructed by Eastern Cape education superintendent general Themba Kojana.

“We followed the protocols sent by the department of education and continued with learning on Monday. Hard work was put in to make sure the school was ready,” said Johnson.

Motshekga said in her briefing that she would be meeting with relevant parties and stakeholders on Thursday to monitor and evaluate all outstanding compliance requirements.

All extramural events at schools, including sport, choral eisteddfods and rehearsals, and arts and other cultural festivals, remain suspended until determined by Motshekga and in consultation with cabinet and the National Covid-19 Command Council.

Motshekga said a parent who chose not to send their child to school would need to apply to the head of the provincial education department, who can exempt a pupil entirely, partially or conditionally from compulsory school attendance. Those parents are obliged to apply for home education in terms of the relevant section of the SA Schools Act.

The department was now reworking the schools curriculum, Motshekga added.

As for matric exams, Motshekga said these would be written in November/December, “unless unforeseen circumstances occur, in which instance, I, as the minister, shall make the necessary determination”.

However, unions said Motshekga's statements were causing confusion and anxiety with the constant changing of timelines.

In a collective statement unions and national governing bodies, who both opposed the June 1 opening date, called Motshekga and her department's handling of the situation “irresponsible and negligent”.

“The astounding confusion caused by [Motshekga’s] statement must be condemned. The department of basic education is obsessed with dates and ignoring the evidence of provincial readiness."

Questions sent to provincial education spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani, were not answered by print deadline on Monday. — Additional reporting by TimesLIVE

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