Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga during a visit to Seshegong Secondary School in Gauteng to check readiness for the reopening of schools.
Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images via Getty Images
- According to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, 98% of all pupils are back at school.
- She does not expect things to go back to normal for two years, and cannot keep schools closed for three years.
- Motshekga assured members of the NCOP the department is ready for other grades to return to school.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga justified the decision to reopen schools amid the Covid-19 pandemic, saying 98% of pupils have returned to schools.
“The response confirms the correctness of our decision,” she told the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
“The 98% of parents would not have sent their children if they didn’t trust the rationality of [reopening] schools,” Motshekga told the virtual plenary meeting, which also included the provincial MECs for education.
She said it was understandable 2% of parents had their doubts and the department was looking for ways to allay their fears.
READ | PICS: ‘It’s not the right time’ – Cape Town teachers protest for school to close amid Covid-19 peak
Schools reopened for Grade 7 and 12 pupils on 8 June, delayed a week from the original date of 1 June, and Motshekga said there was no turning back now as they must find a way to live alongside the virus.
“I don’t expect us to go back to normality in the next two years,” she said, adding they could not close schools for three years.
Motshekga said while she shared the concerns about the high number of infections in the Western Cape, she was also concerned about Gauteng and the Eastern Cape.
Infected in communities
According to her, teachers and students, who have tested positive for the virus, became infected in communities, rather than schools. This view was shared by some of the MECs.
Motshekga said when there was a positive case at a school, the Department of Health was quick to swoop in.
Schools can be closed for the Department of Health to manage the case, including decontamination, contact tracing and testing, among others. All suspected and identified cases will immediately be attended to through its existing Covid-19 guidelines.
Motshekga warned against “unnecessary panic”
She assured MPs the education department was ready for other grades to return to school.
Vandalism
Motshekga said more than 2 000 schools were vandalised during lockdown, and thanked residents for protecting schools.
She added in some cases, parents slept at schools to protect them from vandals, therefore she did not want to say it was residents who vandalised schools.
“It’s just a group of bandits who has been vandalising schools.”
READ | 962 schools robbed, vandalised torched since start of lockdown
Motshekga said there were even cases where vandals were killed by residents, and urged people not to take the law into their own hands.
Several MPs were concerned about teachers with comorbidities.
She admitted “dealing with comorbidities are of the most complicated matters”, saying doctors had reported some teachers were pressuring them to say they should not go back to school.
