Mpumalanga Sadtu says schools not ready to have all primary school learners back

The Mpumalanga South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) said it is highly concerned with the improbability of all primary learners working at 100 per cent capacity.

According to a statement issued by the Department of Basic Education, the Department of Education (DoE) is currently investigating the possibility of returning all learners at primary school level back to school in one whole group.

The proposal is now being considered at the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) where the department has since delivered a presentation at the relevant work streams. An announcement on the outcome of the discussions will be made in due course.

Mpumalanga secretary of Sadtu, Walter Hlaise, said, “As Sadtu provincial we are highly concerned with this development. The conditions that compelled staggered and alternate days are still existent. The return to full capacity means going back to 40 learners per class; this congestion poses serious risks of Covid-19 exposure to learners and teachers.” Infrastructure has remained one of the local schools’ biggest issues. Schools in the City of Mbombela and surrounding areas are still struggling with shortage of space.

“We think that the department should wait until all teachers and learners are vaccinated to mitigate the potential damage of exposure. We grasp the implications of learners not receiving full-time teaching, but the risks posed by this move outweigh all other considerations,” he explained.

The spokesperson for the DoE, Jasper Zwane said, “DoE is ready to get back to the possibility of primary learners returning to school on a 100 per cent basis. The teachers are used to this way of doing things and they will not have any challenges if the decision is approved.

This will also help to make things easy for the learners to continue with the learning programme. We have observed that, as learners come to school on a scheduled programme, they forget some of the things they had learned days prior, which them means they need to be reminded again.”

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By the time of going to press the decision was not finalised.

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