The recent statement by the Minister of Basic Education indicated that there are no plans in place to change the current directions made by the department in terms of the Disaster Management Regulations.
However, the Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer has now urged the department to scrap the one-metre social distancing rule in primary school classrooms.
According to Schäfer, the Western Cape Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been evidence-based and data-led from the very beginning.
“As early as July last year, there was a strongly worded Medical Advisory Committee recommendation setting out the devastating impact of rotational schooling and urging that at least primary schools should go back full time, regardless of the distancing requirement,” Schäfer said in a statement.
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Schäfer indicated that since then, there appears to be broad agreement in the health fraternity that the most important preventative measures are vaccination, masks and avoiding unventilated spaces.
“In addition, according to the most recent data supplied by the Western Cape’s Health Department, the province has passed its peak of the fourth wave, which was significantly less severe than the second and third wave.
“Our data analysis has also shown that vaccinations continue to be highly effective in preventing severe illness, and together with mask-wearing, and ensuring good ventilation, will be sufficient steps as we normalize our response to the virus,” Schäfer added.
The Minister further mentioned that all teachers have had access to the vaccine, and the number of hospitalisations has been much lower than in previous waves, and the number of deaths even lower.
“The vaccine has also been made available to all children above the ages of 12 years old, since the July MAC advisory to relax the one-metre rule,” Schäfer said.
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Meanwhile, various education experts, like Nic Spaull from Stellenbosch University, have repeatedly called for the end of the rotational model as its continued implementation could potentially result in a lost generation of learners.
“Spaull indicated that, based on projections, the average grade 3 child in June 2021 knows about the same as the average grade 2 children of 2019.
“Other areas of concern are the fact that many learners are not able to access the feeding programme as often as they should, and that the on-off attendance at school is contributing to a higher dropout rate,” Schäfer explained.
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