PSA Spokesperson and Assistant General Manager, Reuben Maleka, tells OFM News that the PSA body conducted surveys which concluded that schools in the Northern Cape are ill-equipped and unprepared to open on Monday 15 February.

Many of the schools do not have a sufficient supply of the necessary PPE that are crucial to safeguarding Educators and Learners against Covid-19, says Maleka. He says that the PSA is extremely concerned about the reports that indicate that the majority of schools only recently received masks for new learners who are in Grade 1 and Grade 8. Additionally, early 2020 was the last time educators and learners received masks, which also need to be replaced. However, the Department of Education has yet to allocate funds to schools for such essentials, says Maleka.

OFM News is awaiting a response from the Northern Cape Education Department.

“For the past two weeks, we have been asking them to provide information on the readiness of their schools and also since schools have opened [for the teachers]; they revealed all those necessities. The information that we collected was that there is no adequate PPE. There is no readiness at the majority of the schools in the Northern Cape,” says Maleka.

“What we are saying is that we want the Minister of Basic Education, including MECs in the provinces, to actually come forward on how they are going to address those limitations in the provinces, given that schools are opening on Monday,“ says Maleka.

Unquestionably so, the country cannot afford a third Covid-19 wave, especially with the shortage of educators being a prominent cause for concern, adds Maleka.

“We have gone to the majority of the provinces and the outcome is the same. In fact, these three things - PPE, readiness, and shortage of educators - are challenges many schools face,” says Maleka.

He goes on to say that schools in rural areas experience the above-mentioned issues to a larger extent, which is worrisome, to say the least.

OFM News/Shirndré-Lee Simmons