02 Jun 2020

Masunga Senior Secondary School on June 1 welcomed back Form Five learners at hostels by orientating them on the new COVID-19 protocols.

The school management educated the students on the revised lesson timetable, accommodation arrangements, meals and weekend schedules.

Welcoming the students, the school head, Ms Mmadube Letsholathebe said it was imperative that as a school they adhered to all COVID-19 precautions because the pandemic was still in existence.

She noted that the virus was transmitted between people through contact, hence it was key that the learners maintain social distancing in all circumstances.

Ms Letsholathebe told the pupils that government found it essential to reopen schools so that all pupils completing at different levels would be able to write examinations.

The school head admitted that the new precautions might seem hectic, however noting that it was in the interest of the whole nation to keep every citizen safe.

She indicated that as the school custodians, their aim was to protect learners by all means so that Masunga Senior Secondary School remained a top achieving school, having scooped position two in overall school performance with 45.05 per cent in 2019.

“Our vision still stands, we want to be number one nationally and there is nothing stopping us.”

She stressed that the pupils should protect themselves at all times by wearing masks; more so that some had underlying chronic illnesses that rendered them more vulnerable.

Ms Letsholathebe emphasised that the lockdown exercise had now been cascaded to the school, in that Masunga school learners would not be allowed to interact with the outside community.

Giving a brief on the new developments, deputy school head, Mr Matome Chakalisa said the school had installed six water tanks at strategic points with hand wash basins.

He added that teaching in school had been divided into two, morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate the 1 300 Form Five learners.

The school with 30 classes will have 20 to 24 pupils per class per session.

Mr Chakalisa said the duration of lessons had been cut from 40 to 30 minutes so as to cater for both the morning and afternoon classes.

This, he said, translated to hours being lost weekly, hence challenged pupils to capitalise on the time awarded every lesson to work hard and be attentive.

The deputy school head stated that there would be health screenings every morning between 6:30 and 7:30am, which might interrupt beginning of first the lesson, hence called on the learners to be punctual at all times and follow the guidelines.

Mr Chakalisa stated that for the two weeks duration before the arrival of Form Fours; lessons would be allocated 40 minutes, adding that the timetable had been prepared already.

Moreover, he informed the learners that every class would remain with their subject teachers despite the changes in schedules,. "This means that while one half of the class is in a Maths lesson, the other half will be in an English lesson, which means every teacher will continue teaching their usual pupils.”

He highlighted that every room at the hostels would accommodate four pupils, adding that there were sickbays positioned at the hostels and the learning area. Ends