Durban - EDUCATION MEC Kwazi Mshengu is backing Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga that schools will be ready to receive teachers and pupils on Monday and June 1, respectively, and has urged parents to send their children to school, declaring that schools would be safer than some children’s own homes.
However, the Educators’ Union of South Africa (Eusa) called on all parents to prioritise the lives of their children by not sending them to school.
The union also called on teachers to stay at home and observe the lockdown regulations, saying it would protect them against any victimisation, whether they are Eusa members or not.
Eusa president Scelo Bhengu said: “We cannot trust that the department will now, within a week, deliver basic needs that they failed to deliver in the past 25 years.”
However, Mshengu said he discouraged “reckless statements” that go against the reopening of schools, especially from education stakeholders.
“The reality is that schools cannot stay closed forever. To tell parents not to send their children to school is a reckless thing to say. Parents should remain calm and know that sending their children to school is going to be safe,” he said.
Mshengu said some children are roaming the streets and playing without masks and without observing social distancing.
He said the anxiety among parents about the reopening of schools in the middle of a pandemic is understandable.
“We are dealing with a virus that nobody was prepared for. There are, however, realities that we must face. We have been advised that the pandemic could be here for the next two years and even longer,” said Mshengu.
He admitted that the psychosocial impact of the pandemic and the lockdown would be even bigger on pupils from poor communities, who would be at greater risk of not returning when schools reopen, adding that public schools would be safer than some communities. Mshengu urged parents to work with schools to control the spread of the virus.
“When pupils leave the school, parents should make sure that they remain indoors. We don’t want pupils to be exposed to the virus at home and come back to school to infect others because of negligence at home. We are going to defeat the virus by working together,” he said.
Outlining the safety measures that would be in place when teachers return to school on Monday, and pupils on June 1, Mshengu said he was confident that pupils would be safe, saying most of the personal protective equipment and essentials had been delivered and the department was expecting more deliveries today.
School Governing Body members have been tasked with the appointment of cleaners who would be responsible for cleaning schools and sanitising desks and surfaces. He said various suggestions were being discussed about who would be responsible for screening of pupils before entering school, including checking pupils’ temperatures and issuing sanitisers.
“Security guards may be used to administer things like sanitisers,” he said.