The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng calls on parents and different stakeholders across the province to ensure that learning and teaching resume on Monday, 26 July 2021 with no disruption to cover for the time lost due to the early closure of the schools as a result of the Covid-19 infections spike. Children across the province deserve to resume with learning in peace, considering the many hiccups experienced since the beginning of the year.
Due to the sudden change to level 4 lockdown last month, schools had closed earlier than scheduled for winter break. This has resulted in students losing out on school time and falling behind with the curriculum.
Even though there is a rotational learning and teaching system in place as a result of this pandemic, the number of schooling days have been limited for certain grades which are not enough for effective learning and teaching.
The DA shares the concerns of parents and different stakeholders that the Covid-19 pandemic is severely affecting the education sector. However, we do not support any delays in the re-opening of schools.
We also welcome the rapid vaccination of 92% of teachers and support staff to date. This is positive development in the sector and the DA is encouraging all education employees to take vaccines to ensure that there will be no disruption of schooling going forward.
Furthermore, the Gauteng Department of Education has reassured us that they are ready to resume schooling on Monday as all schools would have received their personal protective equipment (PPEs) on Friday.
The DA is appealing to parents and different stakeholders to allow children to go to school when they re-open tomorrow. We believe that all education stakeholders must do their best to ensure that we protect the future of our children.
We will continue to conduct oversight inspections to different schools across the province to ensure that there are adequate PPEs and resources so that learning and teaching are not affected. In schools where there is no bulk water supply networks, we will ensure that these schools are provided with elevated tanks and water is delivered timeously every day. The DA will report all the issues to the Gauteng Department of Education which has a responsibility to fix and deliver resources to our schools.
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