SECTION 27 is preparing to take Limpopo Department of Education to court over poor sanitation at the Kharivha Primary School in Venda.

Section 27 is representing the School Governing Body (SGB) of Kharivha Primary School in Ndovhada village in Limpopo, a school which is nowhere near ready to be reopened safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the school, learners and staff were forced to use unlawful pit toilets which have subsequently been demolished.

The school lacks running water on the school property, and SGB members told SECTION27 that only six disposable masks were delivered for the school’s staff and that the school only received seven 1 litre bottles of sanitizers for approximately 95 learners.

Section 27 spokesperson Julia Chaskalson confirmed in a statement that the civil society organization has written to the Department of Basic Education well as the Limpopo Department of Education (LDOE) about its concerns about the school’s readiness twice, and received no response.

The organization is demanding that a water tank, portable toilets and other necessaries be delivered to the school before it opened on June 8, failing which Section 27 will go to court to ensure that the government complied with its undertakings to ensure the safety of the schooling community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “We have been campaigning for lawful sanitation in schools for five years and counting, since the tragic and undignified death by drowning in a collapsed pit toilet of 5 year old Michael Komape. We had hoped that the DBE would fulfil its promises to deliver safe and decent sanitation given the urgency during the COVID-19 Pandemic. We hope it still does to avoid future litigation,” said Chaskalson.

Chaskalson said the school has no portable toilets, water tanks or masks for learners.

“The DBE [Department of Basic Education] has set out the safety preconditions for the reopening of schools during the COVID-19 disaster in its Standard Operating Procedures for the Prevention, Containment and Management of COVID-19 in Schools and School Communities (SOPs),” said Chaskalson.

“Key pillars of the safety procedures therein are adequate sanitation infrastructure (including safe toilets, clean and reliable water supply and sanitiser facilities), personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing measures, adequate orientation and screening for COVID-19. The SOPs note that these key pillars must be adhered to.”

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

A SCHOOL in the North West Province has been forced to close its doors amid reopening preparations after a 56-year old principal tested positive for COVID-19.

This comes less than a week before schools officially reopen after the Department of Basic Education delayed the reopening by a week due to lack of readiness at some schools in the country.

The department’s spokesperson Elias Malindi said a 56-year-old school principal from the province visited a doctor who then revealed that he had signs of the novel coronavirus.

“The results confirmed the positive status on Tuesday and immediately the principal was subjected to a 14 days self-quarantine,” said Malindi.

North West education MEC Mmaphefo Matsemela said the school will not be opened until all necessary investigations have been concluded.

 “As the department we are shocked to learn about the news. We are working with the department of health who have advised us to close the school with immediate effect,” said Matsemela.

Most teacher unions remain opposed to reopening of schools.

South Africa’s major teacher unions say the Department of Basic Education’s decision to reopen schools was deeply flawed and dangerous.

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

LUCAS LEDWABA

THE SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) wants the Department of Basic Education to provide information on all schools that are not ready to open and provide effective learning and also give reasons why that is the case.

The commission said on Tuesday it will also request for information on alternative measures instituted to ensure that learners whose schools cannot open under the COVID-19 regulations are not left behind as far as effective learning is concerned.

“The Commission will monitor schools throughout the country to ensure that effective learning takes place and that no learners are unduly disadvantaged by the inability of schools to open and provide learning,” the  SAHRC said in response to Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga’s decision to postpone resumption of schooling to June 8.

Motshekga said on Monday that the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) received three critical reports  from the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT), Rand Water and the Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM) on the state of readiness for the phased-in reopening of schools. She said based on the reports it became clear that the sector was at different levels of readiness.

“In the main, it was for this reason that the CEM determined that the sector requires more time to mop-out its state of readiness for school reopening, in order to comply with the health and safety standards on COVID-19,” Motshekga said. Grade 7 and 12 learners are expected to return to class on June 8 and teachers who have received PPEs were expected to start work on June 1.

The SAHRC said it “will not hesitate to take necessary measures within its mandate and powers, including litigation, if necessary, to ensure that learners are not unduly deprived of their right to a basic education.”

Motshekga said teachers, whose schools have already received the personal protective equipment, will be expected report for work on 01 June 2020, and prioritize the preparation of their schools to deal with the “new normal” brought about by the Corona Virus.

She also said provinces should finalise all their outstanding deliveries of PPEs to schools, and the outstanding provision of water and sanitation to the schools and that ongoing cleaning of schools should be finalised within the week of 01 June 2020.

“All teachers and support staff should be inducted and orientated for the new environment brought about by the COVID-19. In return, the teachers should induct, orientate and counsel the learners, who have already arrived at the schools, to deal with the new COVID-19 environments.”

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

NYAKALLO TEFU

THE SOUTH African Human Rights Commission is taking legal action against the Western Cape Department of Education over its decision to go against Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s directives to reopen all schools on June 8.

SAHRC’s Andre Gaum said that the reopening of schools in the Western Cape will exclude learners in disadvantaged communities.

 Gaum said some schools in these areas are still not ready or compliant to deal with the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“According to our monitoring and our assessment and also surveys that have been done, they are about 80 percent ready. So there are also a substantial number of schools in the Western Cape that are, indeed, not ready,” he said.  

The commission has written to the department asking it to urgently ensure that it upholds the Constitution by leaving no learner behind.

The commission has also asked Western Cape MEC for Education Debbie Schafer to stick to the rules or face court action following her decision to reopen schools on Monday.

“The basis of all of this is Section 9(1) of the constitution which highlights the right to basic education and not be unfairly discriminated against,” said Gaum.

The commission also called on Motshekga to amend the directions published in the government gazette on May 29.

“At present it says schools that comply with COVID-19 rules may open and those that aren’t may not open. It should be amended to make alternative plans for learners who come from schools that cannot open,” said Gaum.

The commission is currently monitoring other provinces, said Gaum, who added that they want to make sure deliveries are taking place.

“If deliveries are not happening, we will contact the different provinces so learners can access their right to education,” he said.  

Schafer has argued that gazetted regulations, coupled with the Western Cape’s state of readiness, meant that schools in the province would open on Monday June 1.

Schafer said she will not stop children from learning unless a court of law tells her to stop.

“I am really battling to understand what the issue is. The Human Rights Commission is supposed to protect the human rights of all citizens and one of those fundamental ones is the right to basic education, and we are providing the right to education,” said Schafer.

“We are working with the national minister to do that and we are complying with the gazette but suddenly they feel that if all schools across the entire country can’t open at the same time, then they mustn’t open at all.”

(Compiled by Inside Education staff

KWAZULU Natal MEC for Education Kwazi Mshengu confirmed on Tuesday that large quantities of personal protective equipment has disappeared in the uMlazi, Pinetown and Zululand districts.

The equipment apparently disappeared en route to circuit offices and schools.

“The disappearance of these PPE makes the preparations for the reopening in schools an elusive goal. Their replacement of these PPE will cost the department millions of rand, the money of which the department does not have,” said Kwazi.

He has since directed the head of department Dr Vusumuzi Nzama to launch an investigation on the disappearance of PPE in these districts.

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

NYAKALLO TEFU

THE WESTERN Cape Province said schools would reopen on Monday as it had already spent millions on PPE for teachers, pupils and general government staff.

The notice, issued by the Western Cape MEC for Education in the Western Cape, Debbie Schafer, has added further complexities to an already convoluted back to school plan.

Despite Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s late-night turn around, which effectively postponed the reopening of classrooms to Grade 7 and Grade 12 learners to Monday June 8, Schafer argued that gazetted regulations, coupled with the Western Cape’s state of readiness, meant that schools in the province would open on Monday June 1.

“We have been engaged in discussions at a national level over the weekend and we can no longer allow our schools to hover in a state of uncertainty,” said Schafer.

Schafer said the provincial education department has already spent R280 million on personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning material in preparation for the reopening of schools across the Western Cape.

She said this includes 2.4 million masks – 2 masks for each learner and WCED-employed staff member.

“We have also provided over 7 000 non-contact digital thermometers for the screening process that every learner and staff member must follow each day, and millions of litres of hand sanitiser, liquid soap, disinfectant and bleach,” she said.

“Learner transport has been arranged for tomorrow morning for those learners on the Learner Transport Scheme. Schools have also made preparations for the provision of school meals. Learners have already begun to arrive at school hostels today, and parents have made preparations to take their children to school tomorrow morning. School staff and WCED officials have been working around the clock to ensure that all plans are in place to receive those learners on time. Given these preparations, and the enormous effort put in by teachers and non-teaching staff alike, it would be unfair to delay all schools from re-opening.”

Schafer said there are also outstanding issues that need to be finalized over the coming week – including confirming a position on home schooling options – but these will not prevent the majority of Grade 7s and 12s from returning.

“Whilst we are aware of the many anxieties surrounding Covid-19, keeping schools closed indefinitely is not going to resolve them.  The South African Paediatric Association has come out in favour of the phased re-opening.  We are taking every precaution, but the longer schools remain closed, the poor will suffer the most.  The disingenuous arguments by some that all schools should open simultaneously do not hold water.  They argue that the poor will be left behind.  Well the reality is that the poor ARE being left behind now, as wealthier schools or parents have the means to continue online,” she said.

Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission said on Monday it will challenge the Western Cape Education Department’s decision to open schools after Motshekga’s announcement that schools would re-open for Grades 7 and 12 next Monday, the 8th of June.

(Compiled by Inside Education staff)

LUCAS LEDWABA

THERE will be no schooling in Limpopo after a frantic week of deliberations, consultations, denials and accusations between the authorities, teacher unions and learner representatives. On Sunday night the provincial Coronavirus Command Council announced that schools are not ready to reopen “after considerable assessment.”

The command council said consultations with all stakeholders will continue through the week. It also said delivery of all PPEs and training of officials will also continue “as they have been.”

“The PCC believes Limpopo schools will be ready by the 8 June 2020. Learners are therefore advised not to go to school until instructed otherwise. Educators and other administrators are however expected at schools and various administrative stations as usual,” the council which is led by Premier Chupu Mathabatha said in a statement late on Sunday.

The SA Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) had already announced on Saturday that feedback from its members on the ground had indicated the schools were not ready for reopening on Monday.

The union said it had expressed its misgivings about the intention of the Limpopo department of education to recall teachers back to work early last week.

“The union then advised the educators not to return to work as the department had not yet put in place the health safety precautionary measures before workers could return to work,” Sadtu’s secretariat said.

The union said it also indicated that it would take the week that began on Monday 25th May 2020 to Thursday 28th May 2020 to assess the situation on the ground and would then indicate its position on whether the department was ready to re-open schools or not.

“Accordingly, the union tasked all of its structures to give daily reports on their observation about whether the department was complying with the delivery of all the required resources needed like PPE’s as well as attending to other strategic risks identified to be addressed first before the schools can re-open.

“The reports submitted, viewed singularly and accumulatively, have painted a very bleak picture about the state of the province’s readiness to reo-open the schools on 01st June 2020.”

The union said the reports indicated amongst others that not all PPEs have been delivered to schools and these include the cloth masks for both educators and learners.

It also said the department has not yet appointed screeners at the schools and trained them about executing their work and that in some cases the department has attempted to coerce principals of schools to do this task.

“The process of cleaning and disinfecting the schools was still underway due to financial constraints as a result of the norms and standards monies not yet paid. There are no proper guidelines on managing educators presenting with comorbidities as the policy to implement this was still being finalised at the national Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC).”

Sadtu said the water tanks to be delivered to schools, with no running water, had not yet arrived at those schools and that schools that had challenges of toilets have not yet been provided with mobile toilets as a mitigating factor.

The union said it had since advised teachers not to report to school on Monday [1 June 2020] “pending the finalisation of all of the above-mentioned issues”.

National department of basic education spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said the Council of Education Minister met yesterday on Saturday to assess the state of readiness for the reopening of schools.

He said the body received a report from the consortium of service providers coordinated by the National Education Collaboration Trust on the External Evaluation and Monitoring of the state of readiness.

He said Rand Water, as an Implementing Agent delivering water to 3 500 schools, also presented its report.

Mhlanga said the Heads of Education Departments Committee (HEDCOM), also presented its technical report.

“All three reports converged on the fact that a substantial number of schools would not be ready for the reopening Monday [June 1], albeit tremendous progress had been made by most provinces, which overall reflected 80% state of readiness. CEM was concerned that, in some provinces personal protective equipment for learners in particular, had not been received; and some schools had not been made ready for the arrival of teachers and learners,” he said.

He said “the CEM took informed decisions to have schools to continue to reopen on 01 June 2020, but with School Management Teams, Teachers and Non-Teaching Staff only arriving to prepare for the arrival of learners. Provincial and district officials should ensure that health, safety, and social distancing requirements, are strictly adhered to when teachers arrive.”

Mhlanga said this whole coming week must be used for the proper orientation and training of teachers, the mopping and ramping of all supply chain matters, and final touches to the readiness of each facility for the arrival of learners.

“The date on which all learners have to report back to school, is the 08 June 2020.”