Challenges lie ahead as schools re-open

MAMELLO SEBATANE

Maseru – Following the statement from the Ministry of Education announcing the official re-opening of schools from tomorrow March 3, 2021 there are concerns not enough preparations have been made by the government and the schools themselves regarding Covid-19 safety regulations.

The Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) secretary general, Letsatsi Ntsibulane said that although the decision to delay re-opening of primary schools gives government and schools enough time to prepare and ensure safety measures in schools before re-opening, more problems lie with secondary schools.

“We expect that middle schools re-open from tomorrow, but exams are currently underway until the 15th March and at some schools more classrooms have been set up as exam rooms to enable social distancing,” he said.

He indicated further that it is very irresponsible for government to place all responsibility on the schools and on the principals entirely.

“All schools should at least open from the 8th March; school boards and principals should not choose. If schools open sooner, the reality is that not all of them have made appropriate preparations, even some measures that are mentioned in the statement have not been implemented yet at some schools. If anything goes wrong principals will have to take full responsibility. We are still in a middle of a pandemic and we need to tread carefully,” he said.