Eleven-year-old Grade 6 pupil Kayla Maseti and fellow schoolmates sit in specially demarcated spaces on the school's field to allow for social distancing during break at Edenglen Primary School in Edenglen, 6 July 2020. Picture: Neil McCartney (This picture is for illustration).
While conceding that the stayaway from school by pupils has contributed to the loss of a school year, activist groups #SaveOurChildren and Parents Against The Opening Of Schools are piling on the pressure for pupils to stay at home.
“We are already in a crisis, having lost the school year – not of our fault, but because of Covid-19,” said Vanessa le Roux, spokesperson for the Parents Against The Opening Of Schools.
“We can’t have a position where we risk our lives, those of our teachers and children, for the school year to be saved.
“Daily, we have overcrowded classes – meaning you put a crisis into our abnormal normal,” said Le Roux.
In a joint statement, the organisations said schools were “clearly a vector for the transmission of Covid-19 and the decision of government for Grades R, 6 and 11 to return to school, will result in a further spike in infections and death toll.
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“This political decision to reopen the schools at the onset of winter is cruel, callous and barbaric.
“Remember, the original intention of the lockdown was to flatten the curve and to prepare our public hospitals for the influx of Covid-19 patients.
“According to Debbie Schafer, the MEC for education in the Western Cape, 19 school staff have died since the return of teachers to school, with a total of 755 infections to date.”
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The trajectory of Covid-19 showed “a consistent upward increase that is clearly starting to spike”.
“On Sunday, we had an increase of 9 063 infections.
“We are witness to continued reports of healthcare workers becoming infected due to insufficient quantities of [personal protective equipment] and, in fact, many nurses have died.
“The minister and MECs refuse to take responsibility for these unnecessary deaths.
“In fact, we are of the view that these deaths constitute state-sanctioned murder and call on the citizens of South Africa to hold the government to account for them,” said the statement.
The two organisations said public education was in crisis before Covid-19.
“Our public education system was in crisis, with schools underfunded, with limited or no access to water, a lack of infrastructure, pit latrines, mud schools, and overcrowded classrooms.
“Covid-19 has exposed the deep inequalities in our system of education.
“It is absurd to believe that our schools are ready to reopen in the midst of winter, given the dismal state of our education system.”
INFO
The two organisations want:
– brians@citizen.co.za
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