The National Teachers’ Union (NATU) says the majority of township and rural schools are not ready to welcome more learners on Monday.
It says some schools do not have a single mask for the learners who are returning to school. The union says it is opposed to having more learners returning to school.
The Basic Education Department is phasing in the return of certain grades of learners to complete the 2020 academic year.
This was interrupted by the closure of schools due to the nationwide lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NATU President Allen Thompson says they are also concerned that there are no additional teachers to replace those who are at home because of comorbidities.
“The majority again of the provinces, they’ve failed dismally to provide the PPEs in schools. We are receiving so many calls from principals worried about how are they going to welcome learners in schools if they do not have even a single mask that has been delivered. Another serious issue is that when learners are returning to schools it will be as if there’s no corona because no additional classes have been delivered in schools because we have classes that are having 80 learners which means that class has to be subdivided,” says Thompson.
#ReopeningSchools schedule for 24 &31 Aug. Some schools returned other grades with Gr 12 learners having sought &received approval from Provincial Offices. I want to urge parents to phone their school for more info on procedures & protocols for returning grades @DBE_SA @GCISMedia pic.twitter.com/ReVFrJVmhW
— Dr Reginah Mhaule (@ReginahMhaule) August 20, 2020
Over 2 000 government-funded Early Childhood Development Centres will also open their doors on Monday.
Earlier this month, the department released a revised school calendar following a delay in the school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the calendar, schools will resume on 24 August. There will be a one-week break from 26-30 October that will mark the end of the third term. The fourth term begins on 2 November, with Grades 1-11 closing on 15 December for the rest of the year.
Public schools will not be able to complete the 2020 curriculum: Angie Motshekga
