Arguably, the country has never faced a collective mental health crisis.
Certainly not one of such intensity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Anxiety, panic, uncertainty, despair and indeed, fear, have enveloped us all on multiple levels.
Perhaps the most intensely affected sector is education, where by all accounts things are falling apart and the centre surely cannot hold.
One accepts that the ministry of basic education has to deal with complex issues.
But the recent media briefing did little, if anything, to give reassurances or show empathy towards learners’ whirlpool of emotions, stresses and fears.
Online interviews with pupils across the province elicited some insightful comments. A few extracts:
* ‘2020 was the year I waited for since I entered the high school gates as a little girl. This year began on a high note. I had invested hard work and anticipated good results, a glamorous matric farewell, saying goodbye to high school and entering a career. I didn’t expect this mess.’
* ‘To the minister: I am more panic-stricken now. I am a good student. But I am frightened to lose my life. I personally think the class of 2020 deserves some sort of comfort, understanding and therapy even before going to school.’
* ‘This is an abnormal year. How can the minister want a normal curriculum and a normal exam? What will happen to the symbols I was hoping for? I don’t have internet and while absent, I struggled on my own’
* ‘ I worry that the pressure and demand to prepare us for the final exams will become too much to bear. Also, I am afraid about my life and that of our teachers, my friends and family. While I try to keep my spirits up, I have many worries and anxieties…..’
* ‘When I lie in bed thinking what it would be like going back to school in these frightening circumstances, I have sleepless nights because I know whatever happens this year will affect the rest of my life.’
While the minister is focussed on the technicalities related to the reopening of schools, the real fears, concerns and anxieties of the pupils at the end of that almost cold and factual planning chain, are being forgotten.
If the minister’s determination is to get the academic year started ‘no matter what’ is based upon any notion that pupils will achieve as expected, let alone achieve within their potential, she is gravely mistaken.
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