The Department of Education announced last week that primary school learners and special education learners would return to attending school daily as per their normal timetable from 26 July.
The department has since requested the Department of Health to speed up the roll-out of vaccinations for teachers.
The DA has also joined teacher unions in talks of having vaccinations available for teachers sped up.
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“It is high time our children’s education returns to normal urgently,” said DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, Baxolile Nodada.
“And this will be significantly accelerated by the rapid vaccination of our teachers.”
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) agreed with the department’s decision to have primary school learners return to daily attendance from 26 July.
The union said they had been in talks with the department since early May to ensure teachers were vaccinated.
Like Sadtu, the South African teachers union (SAOU), agreed that it was safe for learners and teachers to start going back from the end of July.
“The return of learners is only with the advent of the third term. We expect the third wave to have passed by then and gives schools time to prepare,” said Chris Kloppers, executive director of SAOU.
Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), said they were not asking for other frontline workers or senior citizens to be overlooked, but that teachers were also prioritised.
He said the department needed to continue to ensure the health, sanitation and safety of teachers and learners at the schools.
The DA further called on the department to start immediate vaccine roll-outs to ensure that no more time was wasted in the 2021 academic year.
“It is entirely feasible for schools, particularly primary schools, to become fully functional from the beginning of July, a full month from now, given the crisis of children losing months of schooling they will never be able to regain,” said Nodada.
“Why wait till the end of July?”
Teacher unions emphasised the importance of continuing to observe Covid-19 protocols to ensure teachers and learners stay safe.
“The month of June will give the union time to observe the situation around new cases and the safety and health measures put in place,” said Mugwena Maluleke, secretary-general of Sadtu.
Manuel said there was no need to rush teachers and learners returning to school.
“We cannot pretend to not see the effects that the pandemic has had on the world,” said Manuel.
“Teachers want to be back at school but we cannot compromise on safety.”
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