There was a lot of confusion across a number of households in KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of the country on Tuesday morning, 1 February, as parents woke up to the news that their child is now required to attend school daily instead of following the rotational system.
“We don’t know whether to get the kids ready or just wait for the school to confirm what is going on,” said Nokuthula Gumede as she was preparing to go to work on Tuesday morning. “Both my children are meant to be off and learning from home until Wednesday, but now I don’t know whether to wake them up and send them to school or just to leave them be. But on the news it said that it is with immediate effect, and we all know what that means.” The news was announced the previous night, 31 January, following a Cabinet meeting where the scrapping of the one-metre social distancing rule in schools and the return of all learners to the classroom were approved. The Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said Cabinet made the decision after meeting with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President s Co-ordinating Council (PCC), which receives updates on the management of Covid-19 in South Africa.
He said: “Primary, secondary and special schools will return to daily attendance. The regulatory provision for social distancing of one metre for learners in schools has also been removed. The ministers of Health and Basic Education will, in the coming days, issue directives reflecting on this new approach. However, the sudden decision has not sat well with some parents and unions who raised concerns about safety in schools. South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU) media officer, Nomusa Cembi, said: We understand that learners have lost out on school time due to rotational learning but safety should come first. Schools do not have enough classrooms therefore social distancing cannot be observed in class if all learners attend together. Rotational learning will help prevent schools from becoming super spreaders of the virus.
While others welcomed the move. Nishal Chetty, on Facebook, said: “Its about time, the kids were learning stuff one week and not going to school the following. They were losing valuable time, especially the little ones. Kids need structure, well done, it s about time that we start getting back to normal.” KZN Education Department spokesperson, Kwazi Mthethwa, said they were still awaiting direction from the Department of Health and the Minister on the matter. He said: Covid-19 is very much still with us and we need to continue to work together and follow the safety measures to avoid it. As the Department, we continue to follow the safety measures given by the Health Department. The Department has been providing personal protective equipment (PPE) to schools to ensure that learners and teachers are protected.
