02 Jun 2020

All the 29 Gaborone City primary schools opened their doors to Standard Seven pupils yesterday as set by the Ministry of Basic Education (MoBE).

In an interview with BOPA on Tuesday, the city’s deputy mayor, Councillor Lotty Manyepedza said all the city council primary schools were able to re-open on the set date and all the COVID-19 protocols were had been followed.

Cllr Manyepedza said councillors agreed to be at the school gates in the morning to observe what was happening during the first day of the schools re-opening so as to have firsthand information on the new normal operations of the schools.

He said other schools had opted to let all the pupils wash hands upon arrival and then the class teachers would be taking their pupils for temperature screening in their classrooms to avoid long queues at the gates and also save the children from the cold weather.

Cllr Manyepedza said he managed to inspect all the primary schools over the weekend  and observed that all that the council had to do was in place although there were some teething problems here and there, most of which he said were solved.

He said the council encountered some challenges regarding the use of geysers as they produce water that was too hot for the pupils’ hands.

This, he noted, was because it was difficult to control the temperature of the water from geysers, as such they have now opted to use instant heaters.

The deputy Mayor however said the challenge that they faced with the delivery of the instant heaters affected the council’s plan and opted to provide warm water from the school kitchens while they were awaiting the delivery.

“This morning I managed to meet with some Parents Teachers Associations (PTA) of Itumeleng and Ledumang primary schools, who came to the school to observe the situation on the first day, but they both said the situation was pleasing,” he said.

He said even some of the parents who dropped off their children were allowed to get inside and inspect all that has been put in place to fight COVID-19.

However, Cllr Manyepedza said they were going to experience some serious classroom shortages when other streams reopen. 

He said one of the options would be the shifting system. Ends