15 Apr 2021

Mmadinare Senior Secondary School head, Ms Josephine Madikwe says she is optimistic of victory against COVID-19 at the school, after it decided to cease teaching from April 6 to 19 to control the pandemic.

Ms Madikwe said as COVID-19 cases continued to surface at the school, a decision was made to cease lessons to curb the spread, with pupils encouraged to continue with their studies.

“Day pupils can study at home, while boarders are kept at the school hostels, as the school was being fumigated,” she said.

Her optimism was borne from the fact that at first, the school would record 20-30 cases whenever testing was done, but since the cessation of lessons, it had recorded only three cases.

Ms Madikwe explained that if the pupils could keep on high alert, they would certainly be allowed to go home when schools close next week.

She extended her gratitude to the DHMT and Mmadinare Primary Hospital for their utmost support, saying the health education had gone a long way in assisting staff on compliance issues.

Furthermore, she commended the school PTA for the support, in the form of procurement of gloves and masks.

However, she expressed worry about parents who frequently visited the school to bring pupils food parcels, which she said was totally unnecessary, adding that doing so may derail the school’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

The school head assured parents that their children were being well fed.

When giving an update on COVID-19, Mmadinare Primary Hospital, chief medical officer, Dr Nhlanhla Rabanyana explained that the Mmadinare cluster had so far recorded 1 418 cumulative cases, with 229 active ones.

He said Mmadinare Senior Secondary School had recorded 672 cumulative cases, with 214 active ones.

Dr Rabanyana said he was aware of the decision to cease teaching as a response to the outbreaks that had plagued the school, adding that boarding pupils were kept at the school, while contact tracing continued.

“We have those that are quarantined and those that are isolated and we do not expect any boarding student to be going home,” he said.

He said the outbreaks were a result of a lapse in compliance to protocols by learners, as some could be seen walking in groups without face masks.

He divulged that some health education was done at Mmadinare Senior Secondary School to sensitise staff on the importance of compliance.

Dr Rabanyana emphasised the importance of compliance to protocols, saying that isolated and quarantined students were not to be released to the dining halls, but instead have their meals where they were situated.

He said Mmadinare senior had received a lot of attention, with testing for the whole school conducted about four times.

“From last year, the whole school was tested twice, this year early February, Form Five students were tested before the arrival of Form Four students and another test was undertaken for all new Form Four students,” he said.

Dr Rabanyana expressed  concern that despite all the efforts of testing and sharing information on infection control practices, behavioural change remained a challenge. Ends