Are South African schools ready to re-open and co-exist with Covid-19?
The staggered reopening of schools in South Africa is set to begin in June, starting with the return of Grade 7 and 12 learners. This infographic explores whether our schools are adequately equipped to handle the required precautions against Covid-19. Using data from the August 2019 National Education Infrastructure Management System Standard Report and the 2018 School Monitoring Survey on Public Ordinary Schools, we outline the difficulties some of our schools will face in meeting the challenge of teaching and learning safely during a pandemic. We acknowledge that the Department of Basic Education has implemented a number of interventions to ensure that schools are ready to reopen safely; and many schools have implemented strategies to address these challenges before reopening, such as increasing their water supply and introducing new hygiene measures. Here we report on the best available figures prior to the implementation of these interventions.