21 Jun 2020

 Member of Parliament for Jwaneng-Mabutsane constituency has advised schools to comply with COVID-19 protocols.

Speaking at the end of a tour of schools in his constituency recently, Mr Mephato Reatile said schools that failed to meet the requirements should be closed until they complied.

Mr Reatile said learners’ safety was paramount and therefore encouraged schools to do all they could to meet requirements.

“I urge you to comply and excuses would not be tolerated. Any challenges beyond your control should be communicated with your superiors,” he said.

On one hand, the area chief education officer, Mr Abram Molelowamodimo indicated that they were expecting porta cabins in schools to augment space. 

He, however, indicated that porta cabins would not be sufficient for schools in Jwaneng given they had been experiencing a challenge of operating at maximum capacity even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Management at various schools presented challenges that were likely to hamper efforts to ensure learners’ safety, which included shortage of textbooks. 

They told the MP that learners had been sharing textbooks, with about five of them using one textbook.

That, they said, would be a challenge because learners would no longer share books due to the social distancing requirement.

They also complained of shortage of the recently posted COVID-19 scorpions, who they argued were not enough to cover the whole school as a result of double shifts. 

Another major concern was spacing in classrooms, with most schools indicating that they needed more classroom space to ensure a low number of learners to maintain social distancing.

It also became evident that most schools would need additional teachers to cope with an increase in the number of additional classes. ends