Possible recovery plans by the education department parents need to think about

The biggest concern for a lot of parents after the lockdown extension is the education of their children. The 10 million pupils in this country are currently unable to go to school, which inevitably will cause a delay in content learned.

Online learning is a privilege that few can access. 

The extension of the lockdown was also, for a lot of people, an extension of uncertainties.  “What does this mean for my job? Will my business survive this? How will I be able to feed my family?”

The department of basic education is still tabling its recovery plans. This plan will outline all the strategies to ensure that all pupils catch up on their work and can progress to the next grade. 

Here are seven scenarios that the government will possibly put in place to help South African pupils. None of these have been implemented and discussions are still under way to finalize the plan. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga was quoted as saying that these measures are not “concrete”. 

Schools may only reopen on July 7 

Reports by CityPress and News24 indicate that schools could open on July 7 to give them enough time to plan the curriculum going forward, and to ensure the sanitation of schools and its attendees.

Pros: Controlling 10 million pupils, some traveling by public transport, will be a big challenge for the department of health should they open prematurely, or immediately after the lockdown. This will, therefore, compromise the health of the students and educators. Opening schools prematurely will be harmful to these groups. 

Cons: There will a further delay, over and above the missed six weeks of school, if the school reopening is delayed further than the 30 April 2020 when the lockdown might get suspended. 

The remaining school holidays for the rest of the school year will be canceled

In a recent interview on 702 radio, education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said: “We still have holidays we can do away with”.

Pros: If students have fewer days to be home during the school year, then they can catch up on missed work. 

Cons: Part of the goal of school holidays is to get kids out of work mode and help them refresh. The absence of this will pose a challenge for students. Some families usually have family holidays plans during school holidays. These will also be disrupted. Additionally, children will face further disruptions to their routines, as they may be used to the school breaks.

Schools will conduct classes on weekends and school holidays will be scrapped

Reports by The Citizen indicated that Motshekga would urge schools to extend the hours of learning and shorten school holidays to have more time to recover.

Pros: Students can have more time to catch up on schoolwork missed. 

Cons: This means fewer days for kids to rest, and children will potentially get burned out. 

Parents will also have to make plans to transport their kids to school for those using shared transport. Not only will the school calendar be changed, but parents will have to make alternative plans for transporting their children.

Also read: Minister outlines potential options to salvage the school year

The department will remove learning content that is not a prerequisite for children to be promoted to the next grade

“We still have the curriculum structure which allows for us to compress it by removing some of the content that is not really core,” Mhlanga stated in a 702 radio interview.

Pros: Schools won’t have to cram too much content into a limited time, and the students also don’t have to be overloaded with work. 

Cons: This means kids would learn less than they normally would and potentially be at a disadvantage when they advance to a higher grade. 

Grades will be phased in periodically so that not all students return to school all at once.

Motshekga said: “The worst-case scenario, I suspect, would be [if] the phasing-in period lasts until June”. 

Pros: The education system can restart in batches and can plan for certain grades at a time. 

Cons: Grades that go in last, will have less time to learn and prepare for final exams, and the department is unsure of how long this phasing-in process will take. 

Also read: School holidays may be scrapped to salvage 2020 academic year – Motshekga

Matric students and Grade 7s go to school first.

 Motshekga told eNCA in an interview “maybe we can phase in the Grade 12s and Grade 7s first, and then work out how to phase in other grades gradually up to June.” 

Pros: This is a critical time for matric students and grade 7s as they are advancing to higher learning respectively. It will be helpful if priority is given to them to get back to school first to prepare for those critical tests. 

Cons: Motshekga is unsure at this point how long this phasing-in process will take, so the other grades might start later, and potentially be at a disadvantage. 

Final exams will be moved to November and December 

Pros: Usually, final exams span from October to the beginning of December. This will give students enough time to catch up and prepare for exams. They can also have time to write their supplementary exams and still prepare for finals.

Cons: With other school holidays being scrapped, kids will have less time to have fun and more time catching up and preparing for finals.

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