The new school day: 28 drastic changes coming to SA’s classrooms

It’s life, but not as we know it. The socially-distanced world South Africa will gradually re-enter shall be unlike anything we’ve previously experienced, and the upcoming months promise to be a test of our collective spirit. These changes may, arguably, be felt most in our classrooms. Our learners’ next day at school will be wildly different from their last.

The department of education has been able to procure mass stocks of PPE, meaning that school staff across the country will be given gloves, masks and sanitary products to help fight the risk of infection. Upon entering the school, all learners will be subject to a temperature check. Anyone with an abnormal result will be considered for isolation and testing.

Education Department announces “back to school” plans

Learners will also receive more support in terms of psychological and emotional help. The department are keen on introducing more counselling sessions and outreach programmes for youngsters feeling overwhelmed by this “new normal”. All other grades will be asked to return over a staggered period of two weeks – some pupils may not be back in a classroom until July.

Here’s how these big changes – at our count, all 28 of them – will take shape for the 2020 school year. It’s at this point we must stress that all these plans have only been drafted by the Education Department, and won’t be introduced into law just yet. But should the government get their way, this is how things will look…

How classrooms will change when schools reopen

Basic practices for classrooms

• Physical distancing in classrooms will be implemented; no more than two learners sharing desks
• No hugging or hand-shaking
• Cloth face masks to be worn by all students and teachers at all times
• No mass events: Sports matches, choral practices and festivals are not permitted

Keeping classrooms and school transport clean

• Classrooms and school buses must be sanitised at the start of every school day.
• All pupils must sanitise their hands upon entering a classroom or a school bus.
• Learners must keep movements between classrooms at a minimum.
• Desks cannot be clustered together: They must be free-standing.
• Social distancing must be practised in bus seating.
• The cloth face mask will essentially become part of uniform, as children will be asked to wear one while travelling to school.

Changes to the school curriculum

• Each grade with have its programme of learning “trimmed”, apart from Grade 12.
• Despite the cuts, an onus has been placed on the teaching of fundamental skills for each year group.
• The Life Skills curriculum itself is changing: Learners will now focus on personal hygiene and emotional trauma.
• Every single lesson must devote five minutes to the implications of this global health crisis.

How exams will work

• The matric exams scheduled for May and June will be moved to October and November, with the other tests.
• Results will be released towards the end of January 2021, rather than the start of the month.
• Grade 12 students are still being asked to take all of their exams – but the October / November schedule will be amended.

A school will only be allowed to reopen if they:

• Possess all the hygiene essentials.
• Meet running water and sanitation requirements.
• Employ additional cleaners and screeners.
• Create additional teaching posts to reduce overcrowding risks.
• Prepare substitute posts in case teachers fallen ill.
• Provide mobile classrooms.
• Sort “incubation camps” for Grade 12 learners of different abilities.

Proposed return and finish dates for Grades 7 and 12

• Term 2 would start for teachers on 4 May, before students return on 6 May. Their end of term would be 26 July.
• Term 3 would begin for all on 3 August, and their end of term would be 23 September.
• Term 4: would begin for all on 28 September, then end on 9 December for learners and 11 December for teachers.
• Terms for other grades: Tentative proposals for how other schoolchildren return to the classroom were also shared: