Are parents forced to sign Covid-19 indemnity forms from schools?

Today children in South Africa went back to schools following months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The schools have opened with many Covid-19 safety regulations being adhered to by schools.

But some schools are asking parents to sign indemnity forms that say they are not liable for children getting sick or dying from the coronavirus.

Teachers union Nation Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) advises parents not to sign these.

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Naptosa Executive Director Basil Manuels told SABC Radio news: “You cannot indemnify another one’s lives. Why anybody would want parents to sign an indemnity form is simply just adding to the pressure for parents and adding to their angst and I find it unforgivable that a school or any individual would try and do something like that. It is not sanctioned. It is not acceptable and it must not be done.”

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In a separate interview with SABC news executive director of the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa, Lebogang Montjane commented that it was a parents’ own choice to decide whether or not to sign the indemnity form and that they needed to take legal advice on their rights should they not want to sign these indemnity forms.

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