Staff Reporter
Some schools in the Free State may be forced to split classes so that some learners come to school in the morning while others come in the afternoon as class sizes have been reduced in order to ensure social distancing and curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Agriculture and Rural Development MEC William Bulwane told The Free Stater by telephone Thursday after visiting three schools in Sasolburg to check on their level of readiness ahead of the phased re-opening on Monday that while the institutions he went to are ready to receive Grade 7 learners, they may be forced to consider the platoon system when all children are back due to limited sitting.
He visited Mofulatshepe Primary School and Nelson Mandela Primary School in Zamdela as well as JJ Khubeka Primary School in Deneysville.
“The only challenge at Mofulatshepe is that when all the grades come back, they will be forced to go into a platoon system because they won’t have the capacity to carry all the children at once,” Bulwane said.
“This is because of the reduction in the number of learners in a class.”
He added: “Overall, they are ready. The isolation rooms are there, the sick rooms are there. The school is ready. They are just waiting for the kids to come.”
Platoon schooling is a system in which two separate sets of teachers and pupils use the same building, one set in the morning and one in the afternoon.
The agriculture MEC said Nelson Mandela School could also face a similar challenge when all children are back.
“At JJ Khubeka Primary School . . . every system is well. They are having more classes. Even when all children come they will have space to cater for them. They don’t a problem with classrooms,” Bulwane said.
“All the three schools I visited are ready for children to come back to school,” he added confidently.
Bulwane said schools likely to implement the platoon system are expected to draw experienced teachers from the lower grades so that learners in their final years in both primary and secondary schools are not disadvantaged.
He would however not confirm whether such schools would have to hire more teachers for those lower grades, saying Education MEC Tate Makgoe will have to make a decision on that.
Asked about the willingness of parents to allow their children to go to school given the proximity of the town to Johannesburg and the anticipated increase in traffic as some people work in Gauteng, Bulwane said some of the schools have been briefing communities.
“The three schools that I visited had meetings with parents on Sunday because they wanted to understand the safety of the children,” he said.
“The schools guaranteed the parents that their children will be safe. All children will be scanned as they arrive at school. So, we don’t anticipate any problems.”
