Teacher unions still not on board with government’s schools re-opening plan
“We will discourage our members (teachers) from reporting for duty should the department fail to implement the necessary health and safety measures in the next ten days before schools re-open”- Natu
Teacher unions are still not on board with Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s plan of the official resumption of the school calendar on 1 June.
The next ten days will be crucial for provincial education departments to ensure schools’ readiness to operate under the Covid-19 health crisis.
National Teachers Union (Natu) and the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) have warned that they will discourage teachers from reporting for duty if the government fails to implement the promised health and safety measures in schools by 1 June.
This after Motshekga on Tuesday announced schools would officially re-open on 1 June for the first set of learners, grade 12 and 7, as government’s national command council gave the green light.
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Natu president Alan Tomson said the union still had very little confidence that the department would fully implement health and safety measures needed to prohibit the transmission of Covid-19 (coronavirus) in the next ten days.
“We are not prophets of doom, we will give the department the next ten days to deliver on the promised health and safety measures.
“However, we will discourage our members (teachers) from reporting for duty should the department fail to implement the necessary health and safety measures in the next ten days, before schools re-open,” he said.
Tomson believed the reports provided to Motshekga by the provinces on the state of schools’ readiness for the re-open do not “reflect the true reality on the ground”.
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He said the union was conducting its own survey to determine the number of schools provided with personal protective equipment so far.
“We are the people on the ground. We cannot rely only on the department’s reports when it comes to such important issues. We have received a number of reports that contradict the department’s school readiness report,” he said.
Among many other things he expected Motshekga to talk about substitute teachers that would temporarily take the over from teachers with health conditions, who might be at a higher risk should they contract the virus.
“We further propose that training on teaching under a new norm of the Covid-19 health crisis should be done before the re-opening and not after.”
Sadtu also said it will advise teachers not to report for duty if the government fails to provide the “non-negotiable protective equipment that is in line with the Covid-19 regulations”.
Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the non-negotiables included disinfection of schools, proper school infrastructure: proper toilet facilities, water supply and additional classrooms for overcrowded schools, social distancing in classrooms and on playgrounds, provision of soap, sanitisers and masks.
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