More than 562 schools in the Northern Cape are ready for the return of teachers and learners to the classroom on Monday (08/06).
The Northern Cape Department of Education is confident that all systems will be ready for next week’s expected return of Gr. 7 and Gr. 12 learners.
On Monday (01/06), over 98% of principals and school management teams reported for duty.
Lehuma Ntuane, provincial spokesperson for the Department of Education, says three districts in the Northern Cape, namely Pixley ka Seme, ZF Mgcawu and Namakwa, had a 100% turnout of principals and school management teams (SMTs) on Monday. Schools in the John Taolo Gaetsewe District reportedly had a 98% attendance rate, while Frances Baard had 99% attendance.
Ntuane says the main reason for absenteeism was the difficulty some staff members had logging onto the system. In most instances, the principals did report for duty but could not log on because their passwords had expired, he says.
Ntuane says principals oversaw the process of disinfecting all the buildings at their schools.
“We are confident that all systems will be ready for the reopening of schools on June 8,” Ntuane says.
However, several unions in the province have expressed concerns over the opening of schools, with some even instructing their members to stay home mere days prior to schools opening.
Palesa Nqumashe, provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu), indicated that it had advised some of its members to return home after they had found their working environment unsafe and unhealthy.
Nqumashe says some schools have not yet received their personal protective equipment (PPE) and some have not been sanitised.
“We received several complaints in all the districts that there were no masks, and water tanks had also not been delivered at some schools. On top of the water challenges at some schools, there were instances where the toilets were not working.”
According to Neo Letsholo, provincial secretary of the Professional Educators Union (PEU), the union also advised its members not to return to work.
He says they are still awaiting the audited checklist of measures taken by the department to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at schools. Also, the union had sent out a memorandum to its members not to report for duty until the audited checklist was made available.
Letsholo says that the staggered reopening of schools will affect disadvantaged schools and put children at risk. He says the department did not apply a parallel system.
The union believes that every institution of learning should be treated with equal value and respect.
The department must also follow all procedures and the reopening should not be at the expense of its members and disadvantaged children, Letsholo says.
Gregg Titus, provincial chief executive officer of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa), says schools in the province are not yet ready to reopen.
“We have non-negotiable requirements, like PPE for educators, masks for learners, sanitisers and screeners, that still need to be acquired by the Department of Education. For us to expect educators and non-teaching staff to return to school would be irresponsible.”
Titus says there seems to be a vacuum between what the minister said and what is truly happening on the ground.
“We are fighting an invisible virus and we need to take every precaution. We have never been faced with such a pandemic,” says Titus.
