Four questions parents have about schools reopening on 26 July

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent address moved school reopening from 19 to 26 July. This was due to the extension of level 4 lockdown. On 26 July, primary and high school pupils will be back in class using their rotational schedules.

On 2 August, all primary school pupils will be going back to the traditional scheduling of daily attendance.

The department of basic education (DBE) has resolved that it is riskier for pupils to attend rotationally than reverting back to the old timetable.

When are schools reopening?

SA schools will be reopening on 26 July. This date was extended from the initial date of 19 July announced by the president after the country first went on lockdown level 4. When level 4 was extended, the reopening date was moved forward.

On 22 July all school administrators will be going back to school, and teachers and pupils will go back on 26 July.

On 2 August, all primary school pupils will be going back to the traditional timetable and attend lessons everyday, abandoning rotational classes on 30 July.

Is the education sector ready to receive children, especially on a full-time basis?

Vaccination programme

The education sector’s vaccination roll-out plan that was kickstarted on 23 June has finally come to an end. It was concluded on 14 July after a week’s extension. The plan saw the vaccination of over 500 000 staff members, with an initial target of vaccinating 582 000.

This is good news for the country, as they managed to reach more than 80% of their vaccination target.

Some of the staff members that could not get vaccinated are in Gauteng and KZN which were affected by the recent unrest. They will receive new dates and get their jabs soon, according to the department’s official statement.

This, however, means the majority of the sector’s staff has been vaccinated, and chances of severe illness, hospitalisation, and death due to Covid infections are greatly reduced. The sector is on track with the reopening of schools in relation to their vaccination plan.

According to the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union spokesperson Nomusa Cembi, because the vaccination programme has taken place, “teachers will feel more secure to go to school”.

Cembi spoke to e.NCA this morning about the readiness of schools to reopen, and says although there has been a lot of hesitancy among teachers, the roll out plan has been effective.

School safety

School infrastructure

The addition of school structures has been a priority for the department. In June 2021, DBE’s director-general Hubert Mweli was monitoring and inspecting infrastructure projects in the KZN province.

These construction projects are adding more school structures to ensure that schools have more classes.

More classes mean pupils can be spread out a lot more, and social distancing can be observed in classes. Schools are encouraged to minimise movement among pupils during lessons to avoid socialisation during subject changes.

Timeslive reports that more than 50 schools have been damaged during the unrest in KZN. These schools were looted and some torched, others to the ground. This is a big setback for the province and its pupils, affecting their back-to-school plans.

Adequate staff

On 30 April, the DBE ended the contracts of more than 320 000 young people aged 18-35 who were employed as teacher’s assistants during the country’s earlier lockdowns. They were tasked with the role of maintaining social distancing and sanitising pupils.

Without these, teachers will be required to fulfill these roles.

Whether or not teachers will be able to ensure that pupils maintain social distancing, wear a mask, and don’t swap them around is a concerning factor. This is especially when they are not in the classroom.

Many argue that children are not observing precautions when they are at home, so they would rather be doing that in schools while they learn.

The DBE has come under fire for proposing a full reopening in our current climate with the virus, and the unrest.

The department is confident that it is ready to receive its pupils and teachers back.