The National Alliance of Independent Schools Association (NAISA) says most of its member schools will start opening from today.
The Basic Education Department announced last month that schools would reopen on February the 15th. But in a notice in the Government Gazette, the department said that private schools will be allowed to open from today.
NAISA says its member schools are ready for the academic year and that all COVID-19 related protocols are in place.
NAISA’s Mandla Mthembu says online learning will continue, “Many of our schools who have online programmes were able to continue in an online platform to make sure that our children are able to cover as much work as possible. But online learning will go on because there are those parents who still don’t feel comfortable to have their children at school during the COVID-19 peak season so we have accommodated that.”
COSAS threatens to shut down private schools
Education expert Prof. Mary Metcalfe says preventing private schools from opening is not going to in any meaningful way disrupt inequality as pupils can still learn from home.
Her comments come as Congress of South African Students (COSAS) threatens to shut down private schools that re-open before February 15.
The start of the academic year has been delayed by two weeks due to the high infection rate of the coronavirus in the country.
Metcalfe says COSAS is correct about the inequalities that exist in our society.
She says, “Where I’m at sympathy with COSAS is that we have a society with huge inequalities and in order for us as a country to move together in a way that all people benefit from our democracy, we have to constantly combat these inequalities, through mechanisms we take economically and educationally to direct resources to where they are most needed.”
“Trying to stop private schools from opening is not going to in any meaningful way disrupt that inequality because private school children will still be learning at home. So COSAS is correct, inequality is a problem in our society but we need to rigorously address how we can reduce inequalities and direct resources to those in most need so that they benefit from our democracy.”
Metcalfe says only the Minister of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs can prevent a private school from opening.
Metcalfe says private schools are not governed by the department in terms of their term times:
Unequal resources
Metcalfe says different types of schools and children who come from families or communities of vastly unequal resources at home will experience the lockdown differently.
She says children with access to resources can learn at home whether schools are open or closed:
INFOGRAPHIC: Different types of schools in SA:
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Structural inequalities
Metcalfe says structural inequalities are resistant to change because privilege and advantage have multiple ways in which it reproduces itself.
