Cape Town - The controversy over alleged lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in schools has once again reared its head as schools prepare to open on February 15.
The school governing body (SGB) at John Ramsey High School in Bishop Lavis said it has been calling on the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) to supply their school with PPE, saying the school had a few hundred masks for 1 028 learners.
SGB chairperson, Barbara Nieuwoudt, said at first, the school only had 100 masks, but they bought another 100 for R1 000 last month. She said the school had many expenses such as electricity and did not budget for PPE.
“They were not prepared for this and the expense is crippling the school’s budget. The WCED is not supportive, but they say schools are ready, which is not true at all.”
ANC provincial spokesperson on education, Khalid Sayed, said in September, the party posed questions to the Education MEC and the WCED “and they indicated the possibility of schools being forced to use their own norms and standards budget. He said they were warned there was no budget for PPE.
“We told them it would place learners and teachers at risk, especially the poor schools with low budget. This reckless decision by the WCED must be condemned and challenged.”
Sayed said the parents and SGBs had to take a stand and demand PPE for schools and scholar transport.
“This is a provocation on the part of the government, yet when teachers take a stand and demand their safety, they will be punished by this cruel regime.”
He said the provincial government had to use its financial reserves to purchase PPE for schools.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the SGB of John Ramsay High School has not reported a low supply of PPE to the department. She said a meeting was held last week, and it was not raised there either. “However, the school has sufficient PPE in storage.”
“This includes sanitiser, soap, jik and 300 masks for grade 8’s on order, despite the fact that masks were issued to these learners in grade 7 last year. The school also has specific liquid used for cleaning and sanitising ablution areas.”
Hammond said the school has received norms and standards funding to spend on expenditure such as municipal bills.
“Apart from the norms and standards allocations, the school is struggling financially. This is an unfortunate and sadly very common reality our schools face as a result of Covid-19 and the decrease in revenue based on school fee collection.”
Cape Argus