Gauteng schools will be ready on Monday despite vandals and 12 Covid infections: Lesufi

05 June 2020 - 13:23 By Kgaugelo Masweneng
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Thousands of schools will be ready to welcome grade 7 and 12 pupils on Monday June 8, says Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.
Thousands of schools will be ready to welcome grade 7 and 12 pupils on Monday June 8, says Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi.
Image: Vathiswa Ruselo

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says despite the high number of vandalised schools and those without  water and sanitation, the province will be ready by Monday June 8 to resume teaching and learning.

“There’s no single school in Gauteng without PPEs. All our administrative buildings have been cleaned. About 1,725 schools have received money to clean the schools themselves, they will submit certificates by the end of today to show they have been cleaned,” Lesufi said on Friday.

However, 53 schools will not be opened as they have water and sanitation challenges. Lesufi said alternative buildings like community halls and churches would be used. He said 351 schools were affected by vandalism, theft and arson. “Yesterday alone, 15 of our schools were hit.”

The department has trained 1,800 “youth brigades” who will ensure that Covid-19 related regulations and protocols are followed correctly.

Pupils who are not part of the state feeding scheme programme should have their lunch prepared, as the canteens will be a no-go area, he said.

Pupils will be screened three times a day, when they arrive, during break and when they leave.

“Everyone who transports children across Gauteng must be registered, starting from Tuesday next week. This is important because this sector was not regulated.

“Unfortunately we have 11 educators who have tested positive and one learner. All the protocols have been followed. Maybe we must move away from scanning to testing when it comes to teachers. We are in conversation with unions regarding this,” he said.

Parents are given four schooling systems choices: class contact, home schooling, e-learning and schools with special needs. 

“We have formally published our processes on home schooling... Home schooling currently takes grade 1 to grade 9 but the lockdown school will take grade 1 to grade 12,” he said. The home schooling closing date has now been extended to September.

Course material has been prepared for remote studies.

A supporting slide shared by the Gauteng government states that “all children remaining at home will be supported through a concrete and measurable programme run by schools and supported by districts”.

“Reworked annual teaching plans will be packaged into 14-day learning activity packs (LAPS) for every 14-day learning cycle, to be collected at school and signed off by a parent/legal guardian every 14 days.

“Assessment tasks will be co-ordinated with classroom-based assessment programmes - parents will sign a commitment form to ensure fairness. All assessment packs are to be returned to school every 14 days for marking and/or quality assurance. LAPS will comprise learning topics, topic summaries, step-by-step guidelines for tutoring, assessment tasks, memorandum, and zero-rated electronic media educational programmes.”


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