The Department of Basic Education has recommended to the National Coronavirus Command Council that social distancing measures in classrooms be reduced.
AT THE opening of the annual Basic Education Sector Lekgotla on Wednesday, Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said that the department had proposed to the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) that social distancing measures in classrooms be reduced.
“As a government, we are mulling over options to mitigate against losing contact teaching time in 2022 and beyond. We have recommended to the National Coronavirus Command Council to reduce the social distancing measures in our classrooms. The ideal (situation) is to have all our learners receiving contact teaching time at the same time to mitigate against drop-outs, increase retention rates and prevent failures,” said Motshekga.
The the theme for the 2022 Lekgotla is: “Equipping Learners with Knowledge and Skills for a Changing World in the Context of Covid-19”.
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country in 2020, most schools, especially public schools, have been conducting rotational learning because of the adherence to the 1m social distancing requirement in the classroom.
According to research, the education sector lost at least 50% of curriculum time due to rotational timetabling and intermittent closures.
Research shows that pupils from disadvantaged communities are more likely to drop out of the schooling system due to rotational timetabling as they miss out on routines and school services such as feeding schemes and health services.
Since the beginning of the 2022 academic year, there have been mounting calls for primary and high school pupils to return to full-time attendance for the 2022 academic year.
Last week, the NPO Equal Education (EE) issued a statement urging the DBE to develop clear plans to end the rotational timetable system and return all pupils across the country to school full-time.
According to EE, the impact of these disruptions was greater for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds because their access to printed materials, online learning resources and other learning interventions was limited.
The annual Basic Education Sector Lekgotla is set to end on Friday.
