Durban - PARENTS of pupils at a Sydenham high school have been urged to make a decision regarding the safety of their children after the halting of sanitising of classrooms over a pay dispute.
The letter to parents from Bechet High School on Wednesday said cleaners had decided to stop sanitising classrooms during break and after school as they had not been paid by the Department of Education.
“The safety of all is therefore compromised and we urge you to make an informed decision regarding the safety of your child,” the letter read.
Tessa Hulley, deputy chairperson of the school governing body, said they would not comment except to say the letter was in the department’s possession.
Education Department spokesperson Kwazi Mthethwa said the department was investigating the matter because sanitising was not negotiable.
On Thursday, the Department of Basic Education announced a change in the number of grades returning to school on Monday. This decision was taken after the Council for Education Ministers (CEM) met on Thursday.
Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said five reports focusing on key areas in the basic education sector in the Covid-19 environment were considered at the meeting.
“These reports provided a broad review of all the developments relating to the phased approach to the return of pupils to school. CEM received reports since the first reopening phase and assessed the level of readiness of each provincial education department to receive more pupils as envisaged from July 6. After careful consideration of all the reports, CEM decided that only Grade 6, Grade 11 and Grade R would return to school on Monday,” he said.
Mhlanga said other grades would still be phased in during the month.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said: “We will adjust the reopening phases based on the risk-adjusted strategy which is a considered attempt to balance our approach to school reopening taking into account all factors that affect the work we do. We are guided in this by an observation of the rising numbers of community transmissions throughout the country.
“We recognise that schools are based in communities and pupils live in the same affected communities and therefore a careful balancing act must be maintained.”