Note to Editors: Kindly find attached soundbites in English and Afrikaans by DA North West Spokesperson on Education, Gavin Edwards.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in North West has noted the decision that Grade 7 and 12 learners are to return to school on 1 June 2020, after which other age groups will systematically return.
We are concerned about the Department of Education’s silence on the state of readiness of schools in the province and also its lack of a contingency plan to deal with the challenges of Covid-19.
The Department’s track record speaks of unresolved challenges pertaining to unreliable scholar transport, water shortages, poor infrastructure, lack of security measures and overcrowding.
Our contention is that, if schools were not able to effectively address these issues before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, they will not be able to deal with the added responsibilities of social distancing, proper PPE and disinfecting of classrooms on a daily basis.
As more learners return to school over the coming weeks, social distancing will be a challenge, given that the province has a shortage of classrooms, compounded by schools with poor infrastructure.
The DA will write to the MEC for Department of Education, Wendy Matsemela, requesting her to urgently outline the roll-out plan for the phased reopening of schools in the province in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With just over a week before the first learners return to school, The MEC must provide clarity on the plan, together with a full breakdown around the costing and funding, specifically with regards to:
- Provision of PPE;
- Repair of vandalised or damaged schools;
- Provision of water and sanitation challenges;
- Curriculum preparedness;
- Reopening of small schools, with the proposed list of these schools;
- Ensuring consistent water supply and provision of water tanks at schools in need;
- Extra personnel at schools (teachers, cleaners, monitors, etc);
- Scholar transport plans;
- Plan and arrangements around Educators and learners with pre-existing medical conditions;
- Plans to address overcrowding and furniture (desks, chairs etc);
- Impact of budget reprioritisation on other programmes within the Department.
We will also write to the Chairperson of the Education Portfolio Committee at the North West Provincial Legislature, Kabelo Mataboge, to request an urgent meeting for the Department to present their detailed phased reopening plan.
We will be conducting our own oversight inspections at schools to ensure that the health of our educators, learners and school workers are not jeopardised once the academic year resumes.