DBE to end confusion with single set of guidelines on reopening of schools

The department of basic education will publish a single, consolidated set of directions on the reopening of schools to make life easier for the public.

This comes in the wake of amendments to the directions gazetted on January 22 outlining the new dates for the return of principals, school management teams (SMTs), teachers and pupils.

According to this, principals and SMTs were to return on Monday, teachers on February 1 and pupils on February 15.

Though the amended directions meant all those previously issued by basic education minister Angie Motshekga still apply, it did not clearly spell out whether pupils from all grades or only certain ones would return on February 15.

A copy of the draft directions that eventually resulted in the January 22 gazette, which Sunday Times Daily has seen, stated that “primary schools may allow all learners to return to school daily provided that all the health and safety measures are adhered to”.

But this provision was not included in the January 22 gazette.

Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), said the consolidated directions “will certainly help schools and parents”.

The previous January 22 gazette stated that private schools had to delay reopening for two weeks from January 15, meaning they could open by the end of January.

Manuel said he did not understand why public schools were reopening on February 15,  while the department did not say “no private school can open before this date”.

For public schools it will be the peak of [the] pandemic and that is why we must remain closed until February 15. If we are all under the Disaster Management Act and its regulations, why is there a separate regulation for the same cohort of people?

—  Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South Africa

“For public schools it will be the peak of [the] pandemic and that is why we must remain closed until February 15. If we are all under the Disaster Management Act and its regulations, why is there a separate regulation for the same cohort of people?

“There’s a certain amount of irritation because it creates a class system and Covid has shown us that there’s no class and money that comes into play,” Manuel said.

Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said they “were bringing the 2020 and 2021 amendments into a single document for ease of reference”.

“It is an administrative exercise.”

He said pupils will return to school “as they did last year”.

There have been 11 amendments to the directions issued in June, he said.

“It has been difficult to read the amendments in different documents. A decision has been taken to publish a document with all the details in one file. Nothing new is being added. The document has been circulated to stakeholders for their input.”

Meanwhile, the Western Cape education department issued a circular on Sunday stating that schools must continue to rotate pupils and grades as per its temporary revised education plans.

“Grade 12 learners are to attend school every school day. If alternate-day timetables are necessary to ensure physical distancing, schools must ensure that all learners, except Grade 12, attend alternate days so that every learner attends a minimum of five days in a 10-school day cycle.”

Signed by the province’s head of education, Brian Schreuder, the document stated that parents who applied for pupils to be exempted from school last year because of comorbidities did not have to apply again.

“However, the agreement between schools and parents still applies with regards to the collection and return of assessments and required work.”

He said this arrangement also applied to parents of pupils without comorbidities who wished to keep their children at home during the national state of disaster.

Teachers and non-teaching staff with comorbidities, who received approval last year to work from home, did not have to reapply for comorbidity leave.

Schreuder said by the time teachers return on February 1, those approved for comorbidity leave, who entered into a remote working contractual agreement, would be allowed to work from home.

“The teacher assistants employed through the presidential employment initiative will be tasked to assist with duties in the interim period where teachers are working from home due to comorbidities.”

Two days before the amendments were gazetted, education deputy minister Makgabo Reginah Mhaule told parliament private and independent schools “were well within their rights to resume their academic year”, even while public schools have pushed back their reopening by two weeks because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Protesting against this did not help anyone, she said, because the department’s policies, as well as the country’s constitution, allowed private schools to operate independently from public schools.

She said those accusing the department of creating two education systems in one country had it wrong.

“I know it sounds like we are opening a two-system country, but we are one country with one education system. But our own policies and constitution allow for the operation of independent and private schools, so we cannot today pretend that this is something new.”