THE Department of Education is gearing up for a successful 2021 academic year while adjusting to ‘the new normal’.

King Cetshwayo Department of Education District Director, David Chonco, told the ZO that officials were already putting in measures to comply with Covid-19 regulations for when schools reopen.

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Teachers are set to return to school on Monday, 25 January and pupils will head back to classrooms on Wednesday, 27 January.

Preparations 
Despite the district experiencing challenges related to school shortages, under-staffing and debt – alongside Covid-19 – Chonco is confident schools will be better-equipped next year.

‘We are likely to still use the system of alternating, where specific grades attend classes on particular dates,’ he said.

‘Pupils still receive a lot of information on days they don’t attend school. It is up to guardians to ensure they learn at home.

‘We noticed that some parents are not equipped for this, so we are hoping for community initiatives or teaching assistants to help.’

The district director said that Covid-19 forced schools to adopt stricter hygiene rules which have had a positive impact on pupils.

Schools at capacity
Currently, the district is preparing for 2021 registrations – a problem at many schools in Empangeni and Richards Bay which have already reached capacity.

However, Chonco promised that no child will miss out on education because of placement issues.

‘We are mostly dealing with walk-in requests for registrations as official registrations have been finalised,’ he explained.

So far, 42 782 pupils have been registered for grades R to 7, and 141 346 for grades 8 to matric.

Chonco said that additional classrooms, teacher distribution and desks with shields are being arranged.

‘We have received 100 mobile classrooms in the district, but we have requested more. In terms of teachers, we have 9 000 on our database and we are allocating them according to the needs at individual schools.

‘At the end of the academic year pupils move between schools, so we have to look to shifting teachers to schools where there are more pupils.’

The department currently owes millions of rands to municipalities, with water provisions making up most of the debt.

To address this, Chonco said the MEC for Education has been fast-tracking borehole projects at schools to curb the higher water bills since the pandemic began.

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