DA expects Minister Motshekga to announce the opening of schools in Covid-ready provinces

13 May 2020

The Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, is expected to address the nation tomorrow on the way forward in terms of the academic year. As the economy gradually reopens, schools will inevitably follow as parents return to work.

South Africans are understandably anxious about their children returning to school, and they require peace of mind that the Department has a detailed plan in place to ensure that their children will be protected against the Covid-19 virus.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken note of calls by Unions that if one province is not fully prepared for opening, then none of the provinces should open. We cannot support this approach as it is critical that learners do not experience any further delays to their academic programmes.

While questions around some of the provinces’ capacity to implement requirements in time and individual schools’ readiness to manage a strict, detailed set of protocols to protect learners and teachers against infection are legitimate, we cannot punish all learners because of the shortcomings of certain provincial education authorities.

Minister Motshekga must, therefore, use her address to the nation on Wednesday to squash these wayward suggestions by unions and to make sound announcements on the academic year. Here are the DA’s expectations of the Minister:

1  Minister should announce a gradual and phased re-opening of schools guided by health concerns:

The first month would be for the return of Matrics and Grade 7s, the second for Grades 11 and 6, and so on down the years.

If the reopening is later than mid-June, the academic year probably cannot be saved for Matrics and Grade 7s and will need a date for the ideal partial re-opening. The DA suggests the first half of June.

If the year cannot be saved, which should become clear during May, a contingency plan should be put in place.

A protocol must be developed by the Department and province concerned to determine when and why each individual school may open or close in difficult situations – say if a number of learners or teachers get ill, or where an infection “hotspot” is identified.

2  All children should be screened daily:

Parents can be roped in to assist as volunteers for screening by questioning learners and measuring their temperatures.

Western Cape schools are acquiring thermometers for all schools. Other provinces should do the same.

Should parents not send their children to school out of concern for the spread of the virus or because of underlying conditions, they will be responsible for ensuring that their children do the school work required from them.

3  Mandatory social distancing, hygiene and personal protective equipment:

Social distancing must be 1 m, with no crowded classrooms and no crowds before or after school.

Large school venues such as halls may be used for teaching where that enables better physical distancing and no large school gatherings such as assemblies should be allowed.

Masks (or approved facial covering) and frequent hand-washing should be mandatory for all learners and teachers at all times.

Regular sanitisation and cleaning of buildings, classrooms, school hostels and ablution facilities.

4  Online and remote teaching:

Full-on online or remote teaching is educationally not as sound as “blended” learning, which includes elements of online or remote and face-to-face. We are strong advocates of "blended" learning over the long-term.

Schools that are able to, should continue with online and remote teaching as a supplement to face-to-face teaching wherever possible. This could include the use of radio, as well as apps such as Zoom, and of course normal online teaching.

Further suggestions can be viewed on the DA’s website.

Minister Motshekga has indicated that the Department would spend the month of May preparing for the reopening of schools. This preparation will need to be extremely detailed and highly organised, across thousands of institutions and involving thousands of teachers and other staff.

The DA will therefore keep a close eye throughout the process, and will not falter in our oversight role to ensure that our children are safe and healthy when they return to school.

Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, 13 May 2020