Close to 60 schools in Gauteng are not ready to welcome the full capacity return of primary school pupils today because they lack water supply, have insufficient space for social distancing and are plagued by electricity outages.
The most hard-hit areas include Orange Farm and Lawley in the south and Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg where erratic water supply is an ever-present challenge.
In Limpopo at least 38 schools are awaiting the delivery of mobile classrooms to help them comply with the directive of welcoming back all the pupils in class from today.
The provincial education department said 23 schools have applied for deviation from the directive to bring back all pupils, owing to space challenges.
“While these are being considered and interventions sought, schools have been advised to bring back the foundation phase and exit grades for daily attendance,” said Limpopo education spokesperson Tidimalo Chuene.
Gauteng MEC for education Panyaza Lesufi said that the department was facing challenges, with 57 schools where social distancing will be a problem.
“We are working on the problem and we will be bringing in mobile classrooms to those schools. As I have indicated, Gauteng has 2,300 public schools and of those, only 57 are problematic,” said Lesufi.
“That is why we are getting mobile classrooms so that we can accommodate learners and make sure that no learner is left behind.”
Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga announced last week that schools would reopen based on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the country would be moved to adjusted lockdown level 3.
Lesufi said pupils in grades seven, eight and 12 would not be severely affected as they had been attending classes on a rotational basis.
“Other grades have been affected because they missed out on learning. I have personally written to mayors in the areas where the 57 schools are located and asked them for help with regards to the water and electricity problems. I am waiting to hear how they will help,” said Lesufi.
He added that the department has finalised a catch-up programme for pupils to cover the work they have missed.
“For it work, we need learners back in the classrooms so that we can start with assessments but we have a strong intervention curriculum recovery plan so that we can recover as soon as possible,” he said.
School governing bodies from schools that will be most affected by the reopening said they were wary about the move to full attendance at their schools.
Khensani Mahlangu, an SGB member at Nomini Primary School, said their school has endured erratic water supply for at least the past five years and they were worried this would contribute to an increasing number of infections.
“We told the department about it and we told them that we have an electricity problem. But they have been dragging their feet and this will endanger our children,” said Mahlangu.
Akim Zulu, an SGB member from Diepsloot Primary School, said their water problems were briefly alleviated when they got a sponsor.
“The municipality used to bring water tanks but they came haphazardly. We don’t know what is going to happen after tomorrow,” he said.
The chairperson of Saviour Association of School Governing Bodies in Limpopo, Caiphus Moshutla, accused the department of education of failing to supply alternative materials to some of the schools that will be welcoming back all pupils today.
“There will be no social distancing, particularly in primary schools because many don’t have enough classrooms and even some high schools still don’t have additional mobile classes. We think the department doesn’t have any plan for more classrooms, hence we contest the full-swing school reopening,” he said.
Chuene said some schools are using their own and community halls to accommodate pupils within the required social distance.
“District officials have been assisting schools in re-organising classroom allocation for grades and furniture arrangements to get the best out of the available space,” she said.
A teacher in a rural Vhembe East district said his school will not manage to accommodate everyone.
“We have over 400 pupils and returning all of them to occupy three blocks will be disastrous. We have asked for mobile classrooms but nothing is coming, it’s promise after promise,” he said.
Sowetan’s sister publication, Sunday Times, reported yesterday that the North West education department has said schools in Bojanala and Ngaka Modiri Molema, two of its four districts, will continue rotational teaching because of overcrowded classrooms.
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