…as it remains adamant on schools re-opening
Andrew Kathindi
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is adamant on re-opening schools amidst the announcement of three new positive cases of COVID-19 and but maintains it will not be held responsible should students contract the virus at school.
Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Kalumbi Shangula on Wednesday announced the country had recorded three new cases, the latest being a 39-year old man who traveled from South Africa and this comes on the backdrop of the Ministry of Education announcing its plans to re-open schools in four stages beginning on 3 June.
Executive Director in the Education Ministry of Education, Sanet Steenkamp, said the new development will not alter the ministry’s plans.
“This has not altered the Ministry’s approach but will use the first day of each group of learners returning to strengthen the message of social distancing and the wearing of masks,” she said.
Some parents have been concerned about sending their children back to schools during the pandemic, however Steenkamp told Windhoek Observer that parents not happy with level of safety at the schools were free not to send their children to school as the government will not be held liable for a learner contracting COVID-19.
“This is not the time to apportion blame. Who can guarantee what will happen? But so far Namibia has not had any deaths. The responsibility will be from the parents’ side to do their level best and provide the correct information to their children. For example, all of us have been wearing masks for some time now. If the parents go the schools and are not happy with what they find, they do not have to send their child to school. They can make arrangements with the ministry to continue e-learning and receive packages for learning, we are not here to force anyone,” the Executive Director said.
She added, “The ministry will continue to be vigilant and watch out on all matters of health but it cannot stay complacent and cannot keep schools closed indefinitely.”
The Executive Director earlier this week said that as a preventive measure, sports will not be part of the program when learners return to school and washable masks will be provided to learners who do not have them.
The option for e-learning, however, is not open to most learners whose parents may be wary of sending them back to school as most do not have access to the necessary devices.
So far, education regional directories have raised concern about the levels of preparedness and accessibility of e-learning across the country.
