Tears and smiles on first day of school

Some learners and parents were all smiles, while others cried, on the first day of school at the Tsaroga-phoka primary school in Soshanguve on Monday.

Some children were inconsolable after they were dropped off by their parents.

A teacher at the school said the children were very anxious and scared; however, she said it was up to the teachers to make the children feel welcome and reassured that they are in a safe place.

“The teacher has a responsibility to create a safe environment for them. The learner should feel free when the parents are not there.”

“She has to calm down and see that I am not here to harm her,” the teacher said of a child she was piggybacking.

The child refused to be let go.

“I’m like her second mother. Mostly on the first day or the first week, we expect them to behave like this because children differ. Today is the first group and we are anticipating the same behaviour for the second group.”

Kgomotso Mopugodi, a mother of a child at the school, said she was happy seeing her children attend school for the first time.

“I feel very happy; I know she is also happy because even in the morning she seemed very excited.”

Another parent, Jan Motau, said, “my child feels very happy to come to school for the first time. He didn’t even cry because he is used to being in a crèche.”

School principal Shadrack Lekola said the first day went well, except for parents who did not apply on time for grade 1s.

Lekola said they also faced a shortage of staff due to contracting Covid-19 and the number of times children need to be at school.

READ MORE: Bright-eyed grade 1s start their big year a little different in 2021

“We have three teachers who are absent due to Covid-19 and other staff members are afraid of infection,” he said.

“The number of school days is also a problem. With the pandemic, a child will be going to school three days in one week and two days the next week.”

Lekola said they are proud to have secured free transportation for learners who stay far from the school.

“Ninety percent of the learners are not from this area and parents have been paying between R500 to R600 a month on transportation.

“We applied last year with the school governing body and fortunately, we were approved around July last year. We have applied for about 265 learners to save those families from these financial constraints.”

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