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The readiness of schools to reopen during the closure of Level 4 remains in the balance once again as teacher unions continue to bridge what they call “gaps” in an updated report received from the Department of Basic Education.
On Monday, the department held a series of meetings with various stakeholders in the sector to consider the state of readiness of the schools.
Following the announcement by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga two weeks ago, principals and school management teams (SMTs) across the country were due to resume their duties on May 11 and teachers on May 18 to prepare for the return of students on the proposed date of June 1.
However, this did not happen because some provinces, such as the Eastern Cape, were not yet ready to start the process, while Gauteng and the Western Cape indicated that they were.
Unions said the department’s report covered the first part of the reopening, which involved staff returning to work and establishing non-negotiations before the students’ return.
Gaps
However, there were several gaps in the document related to various issues, such as the delivery of personal protective equipment (PPE), according to the executive director of the South African National Organization of Professional Teachers (Naptosa), Basil Manuel.
READ | Back to school: ‘Only Gauteng and Western Cape are ready’
“Saying there is PPE [is one story] and delivering them is another story. Those are the reports we wanted and some of them were not shown, “he said.
Manuel said the department was expected to brief unions on Tuesday and provide clarity on the issues raised at Monday’s meeting.
Unions were also concerned that only some provinces were ready to resume.
Manuel said that there should be a deadline for all the provinces to be ready.
“We are a single country. We cannot have each province doing its thing. We need to have fixed dates and we need to know, so that our people begin to prepare for that.”
“And we note that not all schools have been cleaned yet and we need to know when the end date is when schools need to be cleaned. So there are little things like that that members need to know to have a certain amount of comfort. measures are in place, “said Manuel.
READ | Non-negotiable back to school: no more than 40 students in one class – DBE
Vice President of the National Teachers Union, Allan Thompson, said the union was also concerned that there would be a “gap between the rich and the poor, where those who have will continue to benefit and those who do not will suffer.”
Thompson said that as it stands, it appears that schools in the provinces that claim to be ready are those that have a limited number of students with a large infrastructure that will allow for physical and social distancing.
“The same schools are those that have been able to continue teaching and learning online, which means that when the year ends, those schools will always have excellent results and will be the first to be accepted into universities.
“But in the vast majority of schools, you encounter the problem that, for example, they are still waiting to be supplied with water. They still have schools that were burned down and destroyed, that so far we have never received a report saying those schools are ready. to admit students, “Thompson said.
He added that the union was concerned that there were no deadlines for activities such as deep cleaning and the provision of equipment needed to clean schools.
“Other provinces, including Gauteng, have confirmed that [they have] He did not receive all the masks, but they have some that can be shared among the SMTs and be able to start the process, “he said.
Not all boxes are checked
Thompson said that not all of the boxes on the task lists are checked, which would make it a challenge for schools to begin the reopening process.
“We are saying it will be a mistake to reopen schools prematurely. The results will be catastrophic. Our members are ready to go to work, we are ready to go to work and teach the nation, but we want precautionary measures to be taken. [before]”
The unions said they would wait for the department to respond.
Motshekga is expected to report to the Coronavirus National Command Council and Cabinet on Wednesday before informing the nation of the preparations on Thursday.
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