South African State Schools Shut After Unions Raise Virus Concerns
South African Schools Shut Amid Union Concerns Over Virus
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that state schools will close for four weeks after labor unions raised concerns that they lacked proper protocols and sufficient protective equipment to keep teachers and pupils safe in the face of a surge in coronavirus cases.
“We have taken a deliberately cautious approach to keep schools closed in a period when the country is expected to experience its greatest increase in infections,” Ramaphosa said Thursday in a televised address. “It is important to ensure that schools do not become sites of transmission.”
All schools were shut in March when the government imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus. While South Africa’s privately funded schools are well-resourced, some public schools don’t have enough space in classrooms to allow for physical distancing, and lack adequate water and sanitation.
Infections in South Africa have surged since curbs were relaxed last month to allow millions of people to return to work -- an easing that coincided with the start of a phased reopening of schools. The country had confirmed 408,052 cases by Thursday, the fifth-most in the world, and hospitals in some hotspots have already run out of beds even though the disease is only expected to peak in the coming weeks.
Contracting Economy
The renewed school closures will make it harder for many parents without alternate childcare to work, and may weigh further on an economy that the central bank expects to contract 7.3% this year. A study by a group of 30 academics and researchers released last week estimated that 3 million people lost their jobs between February and April, while 1.5-million others were furloughed.
READ: Soaring Infections, Lockdown Dim South Africa’s Economic Outlook
The four-week school closure won’t apply to pupils in their final year, who will only take a one-week break, and to Grade 7 pupils, who will break for two weeks, according to Ramaphosa. The current academic year will be extended to make up for lost teaching time, he said.
“Schools and indeed the system are dealing with a completely new environment,” Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said in a statement. “The basic education system needs to be afforded the opportunity and space to gradually settle in dealing with the new normal of operating under Covid-19.”
The Congress of South African Trade unions, the nation’s largest labor group and a member of the ruling coalition, welcomed the decision to shut state schools. It expressed concern that private schools would be allowed to decide whether they remain open, saying the decision will prejudice poor pupils and widen inequality in the education system.
Ramaphosa also ordered a probe of the misuse of all public funds that had been allocated to tackle the virus, and said nine government agencies, including the National Prosecuting Authority, police and national tax agency would probe allegations of wrongdoing.
“All the funds we have committed must reach their intended recipients and be put to their proper use,” he said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.