'At last, my own board duster': teachers on the good and bad of returning to school

While unions voice concerns over schools reopening, teachers are sharing their personal opinions on the good and bad aspects of returning to work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to the South African Teachers page on Facebook, one educator explained how the virus would force the government to provide the essential tools for him to do his job.

“I never owned a board duster ever since I started teaching. Ownership was communal, with 27 educators sharing 10 dusters at times,” wrote the teacher from Limpopo.

“When you become impatient [waiting for the duster], learners would just give u a tissue paper [to wipe the board]. I can't wait to own one now with the new policy of not sharing.”

Exposing another shortfall in the education system, another teacher expressed concern over how a lack of study material could make social distancing difficult.

“I have a question ... as we are going to reopen the schools, how are we going to manage the issue of sharing textbooks, marking and managing a social distance simultaneously?”

Teachers raised other questions, such as whether they needed to sanitise books before receiving them from pupils or if children would perhaps need to mark their own books to minimise the risk of infection.

Others shared their confidence in the education ministry, saying it was pulling out all the stops to ensure their safety.

A Gauteng teacher shared an image of colleagues being screened before entering school.

Teachers from schools in other provinces, however, did not believe the same energy would be invested in pumping resources into their schools in less developed areas.

“Gauteng is always ahead,” replied a teacher from another province.

Other teachers asked how given the failure to provide schools with something as basic as proper sanitation, the department would fare ensuring sanitisers and other personal protective equipment were available at all schools across the country.

“A sad indication that we have a leadership crisis in SA. What is being done in Gauteng should be standard across the country, especially when it comes to health and education,” replied one teacher.

Others were more optimistic, saying their colleagues needed to adapt. “Let's go to school colleagues and adapt to this new world order. Practise social distancing, sanitise frequently and wear your mask. You will be safe,” wrote one teacher.

After getting different views from his colleagues, the teacher likened the coronavirus to HIV, saying life had to continue despite its spread.

“How long will you sit at home doing nothing? This virus will be with us forever just like HIV. We have to adapt to it and practise safety precautions at all times. I believe as long as you protect yourself from being infected you will not be infected. I know I might sound weird but this is reality and we have to face it,” he said.

But with the backing of scores of fearful teachers, the Educators Union of SA (Eusa) called on members to stay away from school.

The union is taking their fight to the courts, accusing the government of being reckless in sending teachers and pupils back to school.

“In our contracts of employment, we have never signed off on our lives to be used as a test by the department of education,” the union said.