Communicate on schooling, Cyril

You have to feel for all those involved in the stop-start education year of 2020 … from teachers, education officials, the parents and, most importantly, the children.

After weeks of uncertainty and pressure, it was announced on Thursday that public schools will be closed for four weeks following consultation with teachers’ unions and governing bodies.

Another break is far from ideal.

The reality is that we are in a two-year limbo period, according to education analyst and activist Papama Mnqandi.

He said: “There’s going to be two years of recovery at least, because remember, this is tied to the recovery of the economy as well.

So they can say tomorrow the disease is over, the restrictions are lifted, but economic demand will have to be restarted.

Only after that will people begin to return to the public sphere.

What do you do while in limbo? Do you continue to let people wait, or do you implement a literacy programme while they wait?

“It suggests to me because we are a quantitatively-based education measuring system, we don’t really care about what happens to these kids. We want them to move along to the next grade.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the academic year would be extended beyond 2020. He’ll communicate the details in due course.

The quicker he does that, the better because time is not on our side.

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