Johannesburg – After a week of confusion, the Department of Basic Education has now stated that the proposal for primary school children to sit half a metre apart still needs to be discussed in the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and cabinet.
Minister of Education Angie Motshekga brought the proposal forward this week that children at primary school level should sit closer from the recommended 1m to 0.5m distance between them as they returned to school at full capacity and moved away from a rotational timetable.
On Wednesday, she conceded that the recommended one-metre distance was not working due to small classrooms and that many schools had not been able to resume full-time learning.
Returning to “normal” was not feasible because regulations made it difficult to implement, she said, proposing the easing of regulations. Elijah Mhlanga, the spokesperson for the department, said nothing was cast in stone.
“There is no decision. DBE [department] makes proposals only. The department has sought to explore it as part of mitigating against the learning losses, but the final decision will be made by NCCC and the cabinet.
The department will follow the advice given by scientists.” Mhlanga said the department did not work outside guidance of the Department of Health, which is leading the country in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He also said there was approval for high school pupils to return at full capacity. Mhlanga reiterated that no child was forced to go to school and sit at distance of 0.5m to another child. The SA Democratic Teachers Union, National Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa, National Teachers’ Union and Professional Educators’ Union slammed the department, saying they were not consulted with the half a metre proposal.
“Our advice to schools is that where the 1m cannot be complied with, the schools should follow the deviation provisions as contained in the Gazette and continue with rotational timetabling,” said the unions.
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