Andrew Kathindi
The Ministry of Education says it is aware of the risks in reopening schools sooner than initially announced but feels it’s necessary as there is a “global move towards reopening schools.”
The Education ministry this week announced that learners will be returning to schools in four stages, beginning with 3 June for grade 11 and 12 learners, followed by pre-primary to grade 3 on 22 June, then grades 7 to 9 and then lastly the remaining grades on 6 July and 20 July respectively.
However, just this week a number of schools in France had to shut down again after it was confirmed that 70 students and school staff tested positive for COVID-19 from the 40,000 preschools and primary schools that re-opened.
“We don’t make decisions in isolation. This decision has been endorsed by the Cabinet. We are well aware of what’s going around the world, what the latest research says about the reopening of the schools and the risks. With every country, there is one consensus, which it’s important to reopen schools because the longer children remain out of schools the bigger the risk that impacts on the child’s nutritional and psychosocial well-being. The well-being of specific learning outcomes and key skills and competencies that the child must reach,” Education Executive Director, Sanet Steenkamp told Windhoek Observer.
She said that France’s situation is different from Namibia’s as Namibia still hasn’t registered a single death and remains with only two active cases.
“The Ministry will learn a lot in the month of June about how it handles the situation and should anything happen in Namibia, in terms of public health, the Ministry will go back to the drawing board and make informed, guided decisions.”
The reopening of schools has not been met without some concerns from certain unions and parents who question the ministry’s preparedness to handle the return of learners, particularly for pre-primary learners who may require extra hands to keep to social distancing regulations.
To this, Steenkamp said, “There is no conclusive evidence that states children between 0-10 should not return to school. A lot of investigation has been done looking at who should return to school and the first group was children in preprimary. NANTU has been a key role partner in providing input. We have reached consensus and we have minutes of the meetings. Their concerns are about the short time frame to put everything in place. I think that’s a normal concern. But we should allow the process of phasing in to continue while carefully and systematically monitor with their assistance, and focus on the best practices,” she said.
Steenkamp said the ministry has used its continuation budget to make provisions for cleaning material, which has already been dispersed.
“So far 80 percent of schools from all the regions have indicated that they are ready. Currently, learners are set to return to school with only promotional subjects, while the schools are advised to use the time during phasing in to split classes to keep social distancing as wearing a mask is mandatory in public places, and wearing a mask for hours can pose a challenge to the learning environment. Arrangements will be made for learners to remove their masks to allow them to breathe properly,” she said.
The Director of Education for Khomas Region, Gerard Vries said two washable masks per learner will be made available at schools, however going forward ,”parents will also have to play their part.”
“It will most probably be necessary for schools to inscribe the wearing of masks into their school rules and regulations so that they must become part of their school uniform. It will not be sustainable indefinitely to provide students with masks so all stakeholders will have to come on board. Schools that already have programs like sewing machines like Eros Girls School should use these platforms and make masks,” Vries he said.
