Teachers urged to look beyond the cracks as third term gets going

Teachers began the third academic term with mixed emotions, but most agreed it was time to knuckle down and get some work done.

Poor infrastructure is still a problem for many and some teachers have not received their Covid-19 vaccinations.

Sadtu provincial secretary Chris Mdingi said infrastructure shortages had been anticipated, but would not be fixed in the short term.

On Monday afternoon, Mdingi said even if the learning and teaching environment was not favourable, teachers were still encouraged to adopt a flexible work ethic and soldier on.

Mdingi said teachers in the province had shown resilience during the pandemic.

“Teaching is not just a profession but a contribution to the nation, and we take it very seriously. Teaching to us is nation building,” Mdingi said.

He commended provincial teachers who had gone beyond the call of duty.

“The challenges we have anticipated are those of infrastructure.

“We have risen above the level of arguing it any further on the basis that it is not an overnight thing [to fix].

He said some teachers had fears about the vaccine while others were still waiting to get their jabs.

“There are mixed feelings about the start of the third term, as not all teachers have been vaccinated,” he said.

Mdingi said the first day of school had gone as planned in many schools.

Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said MEC Fundile Gade and HOD Naledi Mbude had implemented a troubleshooting strategy and spent Monday in the office, collecting feedback on the outcomes of the first day of the new term.

Mtima said the department’s priority was to salvage infrastructure, especially at schools

Teaching is not just a profession but a contribution to the nation, and we take it very seriously. Teaching to us is nation building

that had been hit by natural disasters.

He said 63,822 of the province’s 76,826 members had been vaccinated.

At national level, basic education minister Angie Motshkega said the sector had targeted 582,000 personnel to receive the vaccination. She told a briefing at the weekend: “When we formally closed the vaccination programme, we recorded 517,000 people who had received the vaccine — an 89% vaccination success rate.”

Reuben Sylvester, school governing body chair at John Bisseker Secondary School in Parkside, East London, said the first day had gone normally.

“Everyone has become accustomed to Covid-19 regulations,” he said.

In June, parents closed the school because of a shortage of teachers and significant overcrowding, the Dispatch reported. Among the school’s infrastructure woes were dilapidated classrooms and the lack of adequate classrooms.

Sylvester said on Monday: “There’s not much of an improvement. We are waiting on the department for the implementation of work that needs to be done.”

An East London teacher said their school had initially set down Monday August 2 as their reopening date in anticipation of the president adding further restrictions to the lockdown.

The teacher said the school would now open on Tuesday with the usual Covid-19 regulations in place.

Motshekga said full school attendance in primary schools would resume from Monday.

“The proposed school calendar for 2023 has been gazetted for public comment,” Motshekga said.

“It has been published on all the DBE platforms. A staggered calendar is proposed — one for coastal provinces and another for inland provinces.”