When the first case of Covid-19 hit South Africa in March 2020, The Department of Education decided to close schools and sent learners home as a way to curb the spread of the virus. These learners would rely on virtual and online teaching from the schools, ranging from WhatsApp notes, ZOOM video calls with teachers and online portals – resources which are only available to a few highlighting the inequalities in access to quality education in South Africa. After close to two months of learners being home, Minister of Basic Education and other stakeholders have decided that learners must go back to school on Monday the 08th June 2020, promising that all schools will be provided with required Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and resources such as water and sanitizers as preventative measures for preventing the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
According to the South African Human Rights Commission(SAHRC) Charter of Children’s Basic Education Rights of 2012, the state must ‘ensure all schools have essential and basic services including safe structures, fencing, ventilation, lighting, safe potable water, adequate and hygienic sanitation, electricity, and information communication technology to create a safe and enabling learning and teaching environment’. The Covid-19 pandemic has however highlighted how these rights have not been fulfilled in many schools across the country especially rural communities. In a recent news report by Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday 02nd June, it was reported that Rand Water has to supply sufficient water to 2634 schools before schools reopen on Monday 08th June 2020.
- The Eastern Cape has 756 schools in need of water, but only 11 have proper running water.
- KwaZulu-Natal has 1 225 in need of water, but only 8 schools have water.
- In Free State 87 schools need water, but only 20 schools have running water to reopen.
- In North-West 248 schools need water, they have 184 tanks but still, need plumbing for water connection.
- Mpumalanga has 485 schools in need OF WATER, but only 17 have water and are ready to open.
- In Limpopo 521 schools are in need, but only 46 have water and are ready to open.
While this does not paint a promising picture Rand Water’s Tebogo Joala believes that all schools will receive water come the 8th of June. ‘To be quite confident, we can safely say to the nation that by the weekend, which is Friday and Saturday – all the schools that we’ve been asked to assist, in the region of 3126 will have water that is flowing and children will be safe to go to those schools’ said Joala.
We then spoke to our community paralegal journalists in KwaZulu-Natal where a lot of schools were affected by vandalism before and during the national lockdown, to monitor and investigate the readiness of schools in their respective communities to reopen on Monday 08th of June.
Msizi Miya from Zanokuhle Advice Office in Bergville visited three schools in his community and says that the prevalent issues are the lack of PPE, screening equipment and no training for the schools’ management on rolling out Covid-19 measures at the schools.
| BERGVILLE SCHOOLS | STATE OF READINESS |
| eBusingatha Primary School | Only two classrooms had been cleaned as there was a shortage of cleaning material to clean the whole school, PPE has been brought for only teachers and not learners. No one has been assigned for screening and orientation for teachers and learners. |
| Ntlokwane High School | The school operates in mobile classrooms and has received sanitizers but no masks. This school is one of many that were vandalized, toilets have no doors and there hasn’t been training for educators on how to handle the Covid-19 measures at the school. |
| Kwa-Miya School | There is no water because of the construction happening at the school. |
In an interview with Lindokuhle Macuacua from Kwadlangezwa Advice Office in Port Dunford he revealed that he visited the following schools:
| PORT DUNFORD SCHOOLS | STATE OF READINESS |
| Mahlanga Primary School | The school has received sanitizers but no masks, the budget for cleaning the school was reduced and had negatively affected the cleaning. |
| Qantayi High School | There is no water as there is construction happening at the school. Should the school open there’ll not be enough classrooms to accommodate all learners. |
| Mtukhona Primary School | The school has received sanitizers and the school was cleaned but teachers and parents do not feel mentally ready for the school to reopen. |
| Esikhaleni High School | The school is under construction after protesting students burned the school before the lockdown. If it opens there’ll not be enough classrooms to accommodate all the learners. |
| Njabulweni Primary school | The school has water problems and has not received water tanks. Although Cleaning has started, it doesn’t look possible that they’ll be ready to open. |
Lindo says the prevalent issues in the schools he visited are lack of water, construction that is currently taking place at some schools that were affected by vandalism and resulted in the shortage of classrooms, and the fact that majority of teachers do not feel mentally prepared for the reopening of schools as they do not have clear information on the guidelines for ensuring the safety of learners. ‘I do not think that schools are ready, there is also fear from parents – communities of Kwesakamthethwa in Mpangeni and Endaweni yaseMzingazi gathered next to the local schools and chased away teachers who had come to prepare for the reopening of schools on 28 May 2020, saying the teachers will infect their children with the Covid-19 virus’ added Macuacua.
We also spoke to Sabelo Mfeka at the Amaoti Advice Office who visited five schools in his community of Amaoti in KwaZulu-Natal and he gave us the following details:
| AMAOTI SCHOOLS | STATE OF READINESS |
| Welile Moshoeshoe School | Nothing has happened to prepare for the reopening. The principal told Sabelo that they are still waiting for PPE and sanitizers from the Department of Education. |
| Susan Ngcobo Primary School | Teachers are reluctant to reopen and are waiting for their unions to tell them if they should go back or not. |
| Phoenix School (A former Indian school) | The school has everything ready- they have cleaned the school and have sanitizers as well as screening equipment. |
| Amaoti No.3 Secondary School | The school has 1300 learners and 35 teachers but received only 500 PPEs. Sanitizers have also been received. |
| Amandlethu Primary School | The school has been cleaned and disinfected. They have received limited PPE. |
Mfeka added that he discovered that teachers and parents in this community are reluctant about the reopening of schools – this is because teachers feel that their lives are in danger and they don’t want to risk their lives and those of learners. The Parents of Grade 7 and 12 learners, on the other hand, feel as though the Department of Education wants to test waters with their children and they’re also not willing to risk their children’s lives; adding that they know that the department will not be held accountable should anything happen to their children. ‘I don’t know how this issue will be resolved because it is not something we as civil society cannot resolve alone because large meetings are also not allowed for us to engage the greater community and stakeholders – the disparities in the distribution of resources in schools are also concerning as they highlight social justice issues that need to be resolved in our community’ added Mfeka.
The reality is that most rural and semi-rural schools are not 100% ready to reopen due to insufficient resources and the government and Department of Education may not be able to reach all the schools in time – the question is why are basic resources like water and sanitation only being provided now when we are facing a pandemic? Why is the state not strengthening local government and governance to ensure that all citizens have access to basic needs? The fact that we still have schools like Mkhomazane Primary School in Mpumalanga using pit-latrines is evidence that the state is failing to fulfil its obligation to provide every child with a proper learning environment and access to quality education. The state is therefore faced with a dilemma on whether they should save the academic year or put the lives of children and teachers at risk – or will it be a case of the haves and the have nots where only schools with proper resources will continue with the academic year. We have seen that the Western Cape has already opened their schools before other provinces, what does this say about equality and the ability of the government to ensure that all citizens are treated equally?
In the #ChildProtectionWeek2020 letter on 01 June 2020, President Cyril Ramophosa said ‘As parents, teachers, governing bodies and government, we agree that no school should reopen until all necessary precautions are in place. There needs to be transparency about the level of preparedness of each of our schools’. We wait to see if the government will ensure that promises like that of Rand Water are fulfilled and every child, no matter where they come from will be able to go back to a safe learning environment.
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Complied by:
Gladys Matasane
