Management teams report back at school as re-opening plans go ahead

The return of Tshwane management teams to schools went smoothly on Monday, despite a teacher union urging them not to report for duty amidst Covid-19 second surge worries.

According to the department, the teams reported for duty on the day to prepare for schools’ reopening ahead of teachers and learners.

“All managements were at the schools and we are continuing to prepare for schools reopening,” said Department of Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.

Mhlanga said these teams were crucial in drawing up catch-up plans after having lost two weeks, due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

“We have already lost two weeks that we did not initially plan for,” he said.

“Now management needs to work on catch-up plans so that when teachers return they can just hit the ground running.”

The teams need to ensure that all schools have enough personal protective wear for both teachers and learners.

“We lost several teachers in December and January, to Covid-19. The management teams must still determine how many teachers have to be replaced.”

Mhlanga said while the department had yet to receive the exact number of teachers who lost their lives, about 32 teachers were reported to have died in December alone.

“We have a list of qualified unemployed educators. So the teams will go through those lists and call people to come to work so that we can have those replacements when teachers go back to work next week.”

Mhlanga emphasised that it was important for the teams to reopen early, to sort out school admissions that had to be extended due to an influx of learners that still needed to be admitted at schools.

“They must prepare a timetable for their schools as we are continuing with rotational learning. They need to make sure they finalise admission for learners who have applied and ensure that these learners are also provided with PPE.”

In addition to this, the teams must make sure the general order of their schools are still good and whether there were any cases of vandalism at them.

The teams also check whether stationery is sufficient and check whether all deliveries took place last year, so that when learners return they do not have problems with shortages.

Meanwhile, the National Teacher’s Union (Natu) claimed the education department had failed to consult with any health experts ahead of schools fully reopening on 15 February.

A “lack of meaningful consultations” to clarify health concerns was behind the union’s call for school management teams to not report for duty yesterday, according to Natu general secretary Cynthia Barnes.

“Many of our teachers are worried about the risks re-opening schools at a time when there is no let-up in both Covod-19 infection and mortality rates. Daily, we get information about teachers who have lost their lives to the virus,” said Barnes.

Barnes said on Saturday alone, “at least” five teachers died of Covid-related complications.

“This has been going on for some time. It has been reported that at some schools their management teams have been decimated completely.”

Several teachers and principals in Pretoria fell victim to Covid-19 this month, one of them being Maragon Mooikloof principal Chris Zaayman (56).

According to the updated academic calendar learners will head back to school on 15 February.

Teachers will reopen earlier, on 1 February, while school management teams have already reported for duty this past Monday.

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