The Department of Basic Education’s centralist approach to the reopening of schools is not appropriate for the situation. While numerous schools are ready to reopen safely and in good order, there are many schools where the very first steps of preparation have not yet been taken. It is neither realistic nor is it reasonable to expect that these schools’ academic programs must run concurrently until the end of the year.
During the course of the 26 May 2020, the FF Plus learnt that the John Taolo Gaetsewe Educational District, which has its head office in Kuruman, has not prepared a single school to resume their academic activities.
On the other hand, there are numerous public and independent schools in various parts of the country that have taken the responsibility to prepare on themselves. Other schools plan to continue teaching their learners using distance learning methods to keep the disruption of the academic year to a minimum.
The current state of affairs confirm the FF Plus’s view that schools and education must primarily be a community-based undertaking and that central decision-making about operational matters does not bring about the desired outcomes.
Thus, the party is reiterating its call to allow schools to reopen as they are able to and to afford parents the opportunity to choose to send their children back to school only if they feel that it is safe to do so.
In the interim, the ground-breaking work of the various service providers that have offered support and guidance to home schools and smaller independent schools for years and in some cases even decades must be embraced.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Dr. Wynand Boshoff on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
