A survey conducted by five teachers unions on the readiness of schools to reopen presents a different picture on the ground to that presented by Basic Education Minister, Angie Mothsekga.
She announced on Tuesday night that according to reports from Department officials, provinces were, by and large, ready to reopen schools for Grades 7 and 12 on 1 June.
Motshekga said by then, all the pre-conditions to safeguard learners and teachers against Covid19 would be in place.
“We are confident that the reopening of schools across provinces will happen as outlined in the protocol that has been developed. The reports we got are showing that preparations have been taking place and good progress has been made,” the Minister said.
However, the survey by SADTU, Naptosa, PEU, SAOU and NATU, amongst nearly 10 000 principals on Monday and Tuesday, paints a different picture.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, they said that the survey was conducted to get a credible picture of what's happening on the ground and to compare it to what officials are telling the Minister.
“As unions, we have too often seen that information fed by officials to Provincial Departments and from Provincial Departments to the Minister, do not reflect the actual, ground-level situation,” they said.
The survey found that 79% of the respondents reported that they have not received regulations on how to deal with health and safety issues, while 60% reported that their circuit manager has not yet been in touch with them.
“When 92% of respondents report that offices have not yet been cleaned and sanitised, you know there is a problem,” the joint statement said.
The teacher unions said that these glaring inaccuracies demonstrate the lack of human-centred leadership required when dealing with difficult and complex decisions.
“The Education Unions have called for the non-negotiables to be met before the workers can report for duty and this is what must be the preoccupation of the department rather than coercing the stakeholders to agree to unrealistic dates,” they said.
Weekly surveys will be conducted to ascertain whether there had been a significant improvement in meeting the basic “non-negotiables” ahead of schools reopening.
“We, however, wish to make it clear that if PPE’s had not arrived at schools and the required cleaning had not taken place when teachers return on Monday, they are not to endanger their lives by entering such schools,” the unions said.
