In this mornings briefing to the media on the state of readiness of our schools, the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga backtracked on her previous announcement that all schools should have opened to the Grade 12 and Grade 7 learners today.
Although the majority of South African schools were not ready to open today, the Western Cape Provincial Minister, Debbie Schafer reiterated that Western Cape schools would go forward with the original brief and open their doors.
There may have been much confusion yesterday, so what actually happened today…
A teacher at another WCED school, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that the kids came in anxious, and they left laughing: “I couldn’t ask for more!”
Meanwhile, the WCED tweeted (and retweeted) many images of schools receiving learners and how they have been screening them:
Though many schools were ready and excited to welcome learners back to school, many weren’t. Many schools were not opened, and encouraged learners to stay at home.
“We informed parents to keep children home till we hear from the Minister. Mind you, we’re ready to open, but our concern is for the emotional and psychological effect of all of this confusion on the learner. Our take is that it’s better not to start and then stop again,” mentioned a teacher on Facebook.
Though COVID-19 might be the biggest fear some teachers and learners face, there has been reports from a local teacher that there had been gang violence and shots fired outside of a school in the Cape Flats – all while teachers were getting ready to start screening the learners that were coming to school.
For those that have gone back today and to those who are yet to join them – Thank you for doing what you are doing. You are appreciated.
