It was back to school yesterday as millions of Gauteng learners returned to school for the third term following the winter break.
Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi visited a number of schools in Gauteng to check the schools’ readiness for the third term. The winter break for learners was brought forward last month due to the spike in Covid-19 infections as the third wave rages on.
The MEC said that the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) had recruited thousands of Covid-19 screeners, to help with the management of the virus in Gauteng public schools, including taking temperatures and ensuring hands are regularly sanitized while masks are worn at all times.
“These interventions will help us ensure that we continue to provide quality education to our learners, while ensuring the safety of all,” Lesufi said.
The reopening of schools comes as the basic education sector achieved a 89% success rate with regard to the vaccination programme, a week before primary schools are expected to open full time.
Speaking at Eureka High School in Springs, Ekurhuleni, the MEC said he went to the school because it was among Gauteng's badly performing schools.
“If we have a facility of this magnitude that isn’t performing well, it will then overburden other facilities around the area. We came here to observe that and to observe the Covid regulations, and the reopening of schools. I’m quite impressed,” Lesufi said.
The MEC said the department faced a number of challenges including the anxiety of parents and learners to return back amid the third wave, the fact that the return happening in winter, and while some schools did not have the infrastructure to accommodate returning learners and educators comfortably.
“We took a very conscious decision to vaccinate the sector, especially the educators. In Gauteng about 93% of our personnel have been vaccinated, hopefully the other 7% will be accommodated at public vaccination sites. If we can protect the sector, we believe that parents will be more comfortable bringing their children,” Lesufi said.
He added that with the full-time return of primary school learners next week while high school learners continue with a rotational schedule, the department was placed n a disadvantaged position in terms of monitoring the spread of the virus in schools.
“When we monitor the situation to look into whether the sector is a superspreader, we will argue that we might have to bring high school learners as quickly as possible,” Lesufi said.
In terms of the full time return of primary learners, Lesufi said that by Sunday, 98% of Gauteng public primary schools were prepared for the full return.
“We are ready. There are areas where we did not want to compromise, especially areas with low water pressure. Our view is that it’s safety first,” he said.
He added that the department was concerned about the about 53 Gauteng schools that have been vandalised, including a Soweto school that had an incident of vandalism on Sunday.
“We want to thank the Minister and the President for allowing education to resume. It’s important because if we miss this, we might have a generation that misses education. To have a generation that misses education in these tough and tight economic circumstances, it will be a discourage of justice,” Lesufi said.
@Chulu_M
The Star