- Teachers said they were anxious but the job must go on.
- While schools were off to a good start, there were isolated issues.
- A teacher told News24 there was no way they would be able to cover everything in the curriculum, even though it had been trimmed.
Besides some pupils being sent back home because they were not part of groups attending and longer queues for screening, schools were off to a good start on Monday, with minimal issues in isolated areas.
Schools reopened for the start of 2020 academic year on Monday and while under normal circumstances, the return of pupils from summer holidays saw them happy and excited to meet their friends, this year was not the same as strict protocols were in place to ensure there were no Covid-19 transmissions.
But teachers remain anxious about what lies ahead concerning the virus, having had an eventful 2020 with its ups and downs. But because they take pride in their job, they were calm and friendly to pupils.
A teacher from Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, Mbuyiselo Mava, said while things got off to a good start, not all pupils could be welcomed on Monday.
Mava, who is the provincial National Professional Teachers' Organisation of SA (Naptosa) chairperson, added the school had welcomed the foundation phase on Monday and intermediate senior phase on Tuesday.
He said while the school had sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE), others in the province, however, faced some challenges, adding the Department of Basic Education had not issued PPE and asked schools to purchase it themselves, at least for the first term.
Psychological support
"Some schools cannot afford PPE because the department allocates funds according to the number of schools and so small schools cannot afford to buy it on their own, especially in the Eastern Cape.
"Even the money that was deposited to school accounts in the Eastern Cape toward the end of last year, was only 45% of what was expected, so that means that at some schools, they ended getting an amount of R20 000.
"There is nothing you can do with R20 000 in trying to provide PPE for the entire school, from learners to all employees on site."
Mava said:Speaking about curriculum coverage, he added it would be impossible to think everything would be covered because of the platooning system, saying while the curriculum had been trimmed, there was just not enough time because of the rotational system.
Mava said pupils tended to forget what they were taught in previous lessons when they returned back to class after skipping days. This meant teachers had to start explaining what they had previously taught which took up time.
"If you were in a production company, where you say you have to produce 100 today, it means tomorrow you will [also] be able to produce another 100.
"But what happens in education, more especially in teaching; you teach a lesson today, then you give a break - and when you come back you have to start where you left off and you find that learners have now forgotten and we have learners with different abilities," he added.
Mark Peterson, who is the principal of Forest High School in Johannesburg, said it was pleasing to see the first day going smoothly, adding although pupils had come in late, by 08:00 everyone was in class.
He added his school had substantial PPE.
Comparing last year, Peterson said:He added many pupils had pitched at the school while they were not in the expected groups, but they were not sent back.
Peterson said the school felt sending the children back would be endangering their lives because anything could happen to them on their way home.
He added pupils were divided into small groups which were able to fit into smaller classrooms.
"We work with it from day to day and deal with it on that basis also, but we do all the processes needed to be done," Peterson said.
Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools deputy CEO Jaco Deacon said according to its reports, the first day went well, adding teachers and pupils were excited.
He added the appointment of teachers was, however, an issue and unfortunately other schools had to open without vacancies being filled.
Commitment
"In some of the provinces, officials really push performing schools to accommodate beyond what they can and beyond what they can accommodate in terms of Covid-19 protocols. But, it was not widespread and more isolated.
"We have not received complaints of serious shortages of PPE. I think most SGBs [school governing bodies] paid themselves to get sufficient cleaning material and so we didn't receive complaints in that regard," Deacon said.
He added it seemed schools had picked up where they had left last year and were now used to making premises safe spaces, while pupils were also used to wearing masks and social distancing.
Naptosa executive director Basil Manuel said the vast majority of schools had opened, but although some had problems, there was a commitment to try and get the system to work.
"It doesn't say anything about all schools being 100% ready. It says our people are trying to make the system work. There are schools that have already reported that they don't have PPE, that they don't have various things and we knew those will happen because it is impossible for a system like the education department to have 100% readiness."
The provision of teachers was still a lingering issue at most schools, Manuel added.
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