The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) in the North West says its members will not report for duty on Monday as announced by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
The union says the Education Department in the province has not met all the standards set to ensure the safety of teachers at schools.
In the video below, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga outlines the back to school plan:
Minister Motshekga: The proposed date for the first phase of schooling is 01 June 2020. Learners in Grades 12 and 7 may resume schooling on that date provided that all the necessary measures are in place and approved by the command council.
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) April 30, 2020
SADTU’S provincial secretary, Els Themba, says the department is far from ready for the reopening of schools.
“Close to more than a thousand schools in the province have not been cleaned and disinfected. The other aspect that we have raised as an organisation, is that some of our own members across other provinces have not even received their own permits, and therefore they cannot travel. In one school, with 37 members or staff members in that particular school, only eight masks were delivered and as such we have said that the lives of our members are in danger.”
On the basis of the above and others the Special PEC came to a conclusion that the Department of Education in the North West is indeed not ready to receive teachers and support staff on Monday the 25th May 2020.
— SADTU National. (@SadtuNational) May 23, 2020
We therefore resolved to advice our members not to report for duty on Monday 25th until the department has addressed all the issues that are pending and guaranteed the safety of our members by attending to all COVID-19 precautionary measures @IOL @ewnupdates @eNCA @TimesLIVE
— SADTU National. (@SadtuNational) May 23, 2020
In the video below, preparations for the reopening of schools:
However, the provincial education authorities are adamant that all preparations ahead of schools reopening are on par on with national standards.
Spokesperson for the Department of Education in the province, Elias Malindi, elaborates, “We are very much shocked by the statement made by SADTU because they were part and parcel of the consultative meetings that were held between the department led by the MEC during the week. We all agreed that the department is going to comply with the COVID-19 regulations. So, we are in that process of making sure that we comply with all the regulations that we have stated with them.”
Take note of the measures that will be in place when only Grade 12 & 7 learners return to school on 1 June. We urge our parents, communities and all South Africans to rally behind the sector and support this group of learners @DBE_SA @ElijahMhlanga @NationalCoGTA #Day58ofLockdown pic.twitter.com/ivNYF3gs1A
— Dr Reginah Mhaule (@ReginahMhaule) May 23, 2020
The Department of Education’s back to school plan for learner safety:
