Lesufi confident Gauteng’s schooling environment is still quite safe

Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi has said the province remains confident that its schooling environment remains “quite safe” in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lesufi was on Friday responding to questions following the Gauteng coronavirus command council’s weekly update on Covid-19.

On the reopening of schools, Lesufi said the decision to do so was informed by expert advice from those within the health sector, adding that the decision to close schools rests with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Lesufi said the Gauteng province would, however, give its input to Minister of Education Angie Motshekga, who will in due time meet with teacher unions, some, including the South African Democratic Teachers Union, who have called for the closure of all schools until after the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lesufi added that should experts advise that schools should be closed, then the province would do so.

The MEC pointed out that schools are an organised and controlled area where pupils can access sanitisation, masks and can socially distance, cautioning those who call for the closure of schools to consider that some of these pupils come from areas where this is not possible.

He said the province “strongly” believes that schooling environment is a controlled one which makes it safe for learners.

“If the environment at home is not organised then we have a situation,” Lesufi said.

A concern for the Gauteng department of education was that 30% of the province’s matriculants could not be accounted for because they were either not at school or had not registered to study online.

“We are very worried,” said Lesufi.

He said 154 schools across the province have reported cases of Covid-19, reiterating that the schooling environment remains “largely safe”.

The department of education will conduct research to determine whether the first Covid-19 death recorded between the age of 0 to 9 was that of a pupil in the public or private schooling sector or even a learner at all and that the same will be done for the first death recorded between the ages 10 to 19.

“But generally… it is quite clear our schooling environment is quite safe,” Lesufi said, adding that the department of health and respective local governments will assist his department with regards to timeously decontaminating schools where cases have been reported.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.