Back To School At Last

After an extended break and a disrupted 2020, kids are back in the classroom, but how safe are they and how ready are schools? Experts answer all your burning questions

- Lesego Seokwang

FINALLY! After weeks of holiday – and a lockdown that made an already long break feel even longer for frazzled parents and guardians – the school gates are finally re-opening.

But this year parents have much more on their minds than covering books and figuring out how to iron those pesky labels onto clothing.

Covid-19 has put a whole new spin on things. It may make life easier for many working parents having their kids back at school but many worry about how safe it’s going to be, especially because the variant of the strain that brought everything to a grinding halt last year is 50% more infectious.

Then there are the other concerns.

How are kids going to catch up after missing so much work? And what if they’re unable to get back to a more stable school schedule this year?

We spoke to education experts to find out how this school year may unfold.

HOW SAFE IS IT FOR CHILDREN AND TEACHERS TO RETURN?

The grim stats say it all – it’s estimated that since the start of the pandemic in SA, more than 1 600 teachers have died nationwide. And whereas during the early months of the virus kids seemed relatively immune to it, there are more infections among younger people now with the new variant of the strain.

But the department of basic education (DBE) is confident there are enough precautions in place to ensure a safe return. These plans are yet to be revealed – and our efforts to get an answer from the department about what these safety efforts entail proved futile.

Professor Vimolan Mudaly of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s education department says parents have good reason to be concerned.