admin
JOHANNESBURG. — It was back to school yesterday for thousands of Grade 7 and 12 pupils in South Africa after more than two months away from their desks.
The reopening of learning institutions had to be postponed last week following concerns by various stakeholders and teachers’ unions.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Sunday said 95 percent of schools were ready to open their doors.
Motshekga said no learning institution will open its doors if it was not ready to do so.
“Alternative measures have been developed by different districts such as temporarily using neighbouring schools, using underutilised spaces in boarding schools and putting other learners in camps,” she said.
One of the major stumbling blocks had been access to water at some schools.
Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai said: “We had a target of 2 634 tanks that we had to provide to schools during this time. This does not mean all those schools were without water.
“We have supplied over 2 900 schools that wanted us to fill their tanks. We need to deliver the remaining tanks; we believe in a week or so that will be done.”
Vandalism has also delayed the delivery of necessities to schools.
After their initial reluctance, five teachers’ unions are now welcoming the reopening of schools, but with the caveat that teachers and pupils be protected.
National Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) president Allen Thompson said teachers must not report for duty if they have not been supplied with personal protection equipment and if they do not have access to running water at school. It emerged after a virtual meeting between basic education director-general Mathanzima Mweli and teacher unions last week that the South African National Defence Force is helping to transport water tanks to some schools. In a television appearance last week, Teboho Joala, general manager for communication and stakeholder management at Rand Water, assured South Africans that the SANDF had transported water tanks to some schools in Limpopo.
Originally, grade 7 and 12 pupils were to have returned to class a week ago but the department announced at the 11th hour that the return was being postponed because schools in some provinces had not received personal protection equipment.
There was confusion and uncertainty among parents last Sunday after Motshekga’s much-anticipated announcement on the reopening of schools was postponed twice and then cancelled.
However, the Western Cape’s education department did open schools last Monday, saying it had “pulled out all the stops to ensure that we are ready for the arrival of learners”.
Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said while there were gaps, “we are at the point now where it is almost impossible to continually keep schools closed”.
“There are many schools in provinces that are ready and we believe the time is right now to open the schools.”
Manuel said, however, that the union still had concerns, especially around schools that were not ready to reopen.
“We need a plan for that, on how do we get them ready. There are still water issues,” he said. — Sunday Times/eNCA.
Online Reporter