Think before you say 'close schools', says deputy principal

Jolene Ostendorf is the deputy principal of a large primary school. Here she asks parents to consider what school closures mean to school staff and students. 

I see a couple of people on my timeline support the call for schools in SA to be closed, so I thought it might be time to share my experiences.

I am one of the deputy principals at a very large primary school - over 1000 kids.

We are also one of the fortunate ones that have been able to welcome all our kiddies from Grade R to 7 back, full time for the past few weeks.

In a nutshell, if the media is to be believed, I should be walking into a cesspool of Covid-19 infection every single day. As of today, our positive cases numbers two.

That's 0,2% of our total school population.

We are not doing anything special like disinfectant tunnels etc. so are we just lucky? I doubt it - what we are seeing is that kids are better at this than adults.

We've told the kids to wear their masks and wash their hands.

And guess what? They do it!

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They are not interested in a big political statement or complaining about feeling stifled.

My new hobby is looking at the Facebook profiles of the parents who question and criticize schools relentlessly about safety in schools. Almost every single one has pictures of the parent posing mask-less with their friends during a time we've been told to stay at home.

I've sent far more kids home due to exposure from weekend activities than any possible exposure at school. 

You want to close the schools?

Understand that schools are this country's lynchpin industry.

Our economy relies on parents having a safe place for their kids to go while they are at work. For hundreds of thousands of children, school is also where they get a regular meal. It's where they are safe from abuse.

If you think that doesn't apply to your community, you're wrong. Wealthier communities are just better at hiding the abuse that exists.

Teach online! How are households supposed to manage online learning for multiple children while still working - with limited devices? 

• Coronavirus: As schools re-open, are the kids a risk to elderly caregivers? 
• You might want to look at these local online schools this year
• Find homeschooling sites and information here
  

Finally, if you still think schools should close, you should know that about 200 000 teachers in SA are school-paid. This doesn't include admin staff and support staff. Close schools, and tens of thousands of school employees will be without jobs.

And we won't be losing the lazy teachers we don't want in classrooms anyway - we'll be losing thousands of young, enthusiastic teachers who are currently working their butts off to make sure your child catches up.

We can close schools for many months, but I guarantee that we will feel the repercussions for generations to come - starting with increased class sizes, no more school sport, no more drama or music, no more excursions ... the list is endless.

The 'boring' education we're being forced into at the moment?

That will be the norm.

Think before you say "close schools".

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