Schools welcome back learners

Gallery Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Despite the nationwide school reopening date being postponed to 8 June on Sunday, Knysna along with many other Western Cape schools reopened with Grade 7s and 12s returning on 1 June.

Schools around the country were initially scheduled to reopen this week Monday, but minister of basic education Angie Motshekga rescinded that statement late on Sunday 31 May, postponing the date to 8 June to allow schools to further prepare for learners' return.

This notwithstanding, Western Cape MEC for education Debbie Schäfer announced on Sunday that the province's schools were ready to welcome back learners, and that schools would still be reopening on Monday 1 June.

This meant schools around Knysna would be opening up for Grade 7 and 12 learners again, with all of the town's primary and high schools welcoming back their respective groups. Teachers had already returned to school the week prior in order to begin preparing for the reopening, and at 07:00 on Monday morning learners began gathering at their various schools to have their hands sanitised and to be screened before being admitted to school. The screening process included measuring of their temperature, along with a brief questionnaire relating to Covid-19.

Photo gallery: Knysna schools reopen

The majority of schools seems to have adopted a principle of limiting class sizes to an average of roughly 20 learners per class.

At Concordia Primary, they have divided their 130 learners into six classes, while Chris Nissen Primary has divided their 170 learners into eight classes, Thembelitsha Primary's 180 learners were divided into nine classes, and Knysna Primary has 10 classes for their 105 learners. While some schools allowed their learners to attend classes in their "civvies", most schools expected attendance in the school's uniforms, and masks were also given out to learners.

The 167 matrics at Knysna Secondary School have been divided into 10 classes, Knysna High School's 100 matrics have been split into six classes, and at Oakhill the 43 matrics are writing their test series, a substitute for what would have been their exams. They are doing this for the remainder of the term, with two tests a day, in venues with desks 1.5m apart.

In all primary and high schools, measures have been put in place to ensure learners remain distanced during break times, with some schools allocating different areas of the schoolyard to specific groups. Not all learners returned to school, however, as it is not mandatory for parents to send their children back to school. Thembelistha Primary principal Siyabulela Lukwe said they expect learners would be slowly making their way back to school. "We think they will gradually return, because there is still some uncertainty among parents, so once they are more reassured of everything we should welcome back more learners," he said.

Knysna Primary learner Joshua Purdon has his temperature taken by Petroné Bouwer.