Education
- Whether all the schools visited by her on 27 May 2020 had enough (a) sanitiser, (b) masks and (c) sanitising booths; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether additional cleaning staff has been appointed at schools; if so, what are the relevant details;
- (a) how many learners are being accommodated in a class and (b) how will social distancing be maintained when all grades return to schools?
(1) (a) No – one school, Intsebenziswano Secondary had not received their hand sanitiser. I raised the matter with the Department for resolution.
(b) Yes
(c) We did not procure sanitising booths, as this would go against the advice of the Department of Health.
(2) The Department has not appointed additional cleaning staff – however, some schools may have done so from their own funds. When a positive case is confirmed at a school, the school alerts the district office to arrange cleaning by an external service provider.
(3) (a) The maximum number of learners in a class with be limited by the available physical space in each classroom. At no point can the 1.5m physical distancing requirement be compromised.
(b) Schools are required to develop Temporary Revised Education Plans (TREPs) in order to maintain the 1.5m physical distancing requirement when more grades return on 6 July 2020. Over 60% of our schools have already provided these plans to the Department.
Some of the models submitted by schools include rotation of grades attending on a daily basis, grades alternating on a weekly basis, blended model (some learners in class, some via distance learning), and shift attendance daily i.e. platooning (least favoured model)
