Parents wary to send children to school

TEACHERS are scheduled to take the Covid-19 vaccine from today. But this offers little hope to some parents, who fear their children will still contract the virus at school.

They say schools are superspreaders and they prefer their children learn their lessons online.

On Saturday, Angie Motshegka, the Minister of Basic Education, said vaccines for teachers were secured and that it would begin with immediate effect. She said schools would not be closed and that any closures due to infections would be dealt with on a school-byschool basis. Schools will remain open until they close for the holidays on July 9.

Motshegka also said the Cabinet had approved and supported the proposal to prepare for the return of traditional time-tabling at the primary school level. This would start from the first day of the third school term on July 28.

While the SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA (Naptosa) supported Motshegka, others were unhappy.

Siphiwe Mpungose, the general secretary of the Educators Union in SA, said: “Why can’t the department implement online learning like it did last year when the infections were bad? We cannot understand how the minister believes it is safe for pupils when the country is already in its third wave and seeing thousands of new cases daily.

“The minister does not go to her office but calls for teachers and pupils to go to school.

“Once there is a full return, there will be no control over social distancing when pupils are on break and teachers are in the staffroom.”

He said they have vowed to shut schools down.

“Currently, kids are being affected and taking the virus home to infect their family members. If pupils and teachers were being vaccinated, we would understand. But now the department is only looking after the safety of teachers, while the pupils will be left to infect one another.

“We are calling for schools to be closed, and to only reopen when the third wave is over with.

“I am not sure who advised the minister that it is safe for kids to return to school but it isn’t, and her announcement shows that she is not acting in the best interests of the country,” Mpungose said.

He said if schools closed and went the online route, more lives would be saved.

Kishore Hamberpersad, secretary of the School Governing Bodies Association in KZN, said: “At the moment, working with the 50% pupil attendance, it takes up to one and a half hours each morning to screen pupils. If there is a full return, schools will need more hands on deck for screenings.

“Also, pupils will still need to be socially distanced, so does it mean pupils will sit in a few classrooms, or will more teachers be called in to take on the extra classes? We need clarity on all these things.”

Sushila Nunkumar, a parent from Phoenix, said she felt anxious about her son now being in school with other pupils.

“My son is in Grade 3. He does not yet understand how easily one can pick up the virus. How do I send him to school knowing his classroom will be packed with children? I fear there’s no stopping what will happen when they are all together.”

Charmaine Pillay, a parent from Reservoir Hills, said: “We live with my elderly dad. He has comorbidities. My husband also has hypertension. My child can bring in the virus and then who do I turn to for assistance when we are suffering?”

Kevin Pillay, a parent from Montford, Chatsworth, added: “The move by the department to only vaccinate teachers and not pupils is selfish. They are just protecting their own. What about our kids?”

However, Nic Spaull, an associate professor in the economics department at Stellenbosch University, said it was rare that children infected adults. “We know from research released this year that focused on deaths among teachers, that the deaths are not related to the opening and closing dates of school.

“We also know that in 2020 children lost between 50 to 75% of a year of learning due to school closures and rotational timetables.

“What most people don’t know is that in almost all no-fee schools, which make up 80% of South African schools, they are still practising rotational timetables where only 50% of kids attend on any one day.

“As a result, learning losses are growing over time.

“Given that we are already halfway through the year and still practising rotational timetables, it is not unreasonable to project the findings from last year on to this year and say that children have already lost a full year of schooling due to the pandemic,” Spaull said.

He said the fact that teachers were prioritised for vaccinations was welcome news.

This, he said, would mean the return to full-time attendance at least by the end of July.