SCHOOLS REOPENING DISORDER!

MANZINI – The reopening of schools was quite disorderly yesterday. This is because in most schools visited by this publication, there were certain things that had not been done to make the environment conducive for the pupils.

The first challenge had to do with transportation of pupils, to the actual observation of social distancing and lack of water tanks. At Matsapha High School, popularly known as Swazi National High, the Form Vs were divided into three groups of 19 pupils.

They were then sensitised on hygiene and how to prevent the spread of COVID -19. The Head teacher, Brian Dlamini, said each lecture on hygiene had been apportioned one hour per group and the school had 257 learners in Form V.

Wander

While some of the pupils were in the three classrooms learning about hygiene, about 200 pupils were left to wander within the school premises, with some basking in the sun, while others were in silos chatting with friends after the three months they had spent away from school.

Schools were last operational on March 18, 2020.
Those who were basking in the sun were seated in close proximity, without observing the social distancing space of 1.5 metres. It was chit-chat, laughter and frequent clapping of high fives.

The same applied for those who were wandering around the school yard or standing along the corridors – they did not observe social distancing. While this was happening, some teachers were in the staffroom, preparing for their turn to engage with the learners.

The school’s janitor was found fumigating some of the classrooms and laboratory as it was said he could not complete the task on Monday.  Dlamini said they had dedicated yesterday to empowering the pupils with hygiene in the era of COVID -19.

The head teacher explained that the pupils filled in a form at the main gate where they recorded their residential address and temperature reading.
A hands-free hand sanitiser station was found mounted by the gate, operated through a foot pedal.

A security guard found at the gate said his task was to ensure that no person entered the school’s yard without sanitising and having his/her temperature taken. Also, he said there was no person that would be let into the school if his or her temperature recording was over 37.5°C.

If this happened, the guard said he was ordered to let the individual stand aside for a few minutes before checking that person’s temperature again. While this was going on, at the entrance of the school gate were two groundsmen who were digging a hole where a sanitiser booth would be mounted.

Minimise

The head teacher said the booth was aimed at making sure that any person who entered their premises had their clothes sanitized as well. This, he said, was to minimise the risk of having their surfaces contaminated by the clothing of pupils, teachers and parents who had been exposed to the virus through their mode of transport.

Dlamini explained that the school had to divert its budget in order to be COVID-19-compliant. This was evident in that the school had stickers to demarcate the social distancing in classrooms and along the corridors. In every other corner there were hands-free stands with sanitisers while there were also hand-washing basins. Despite the great effort to afford the pupils a safe environment, there were still shortcomings in that some of the hand-washing basins donated by government through the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) were not operational.

St Michael’s High School pupils also had a tough time adhering to social distancing.
Pupils who were queuing to be let into the school premises were found in close proximity to one another, while waiting to be registered, screened and sanitised.
The security guard would often shout at the pupils while queuing to observe the social distance of 1.5 metres. The pupils would spread apart only to be in close proximity again in a few minutes.

At the entrance of the school, the janitor and security guard were carrying a sanitiser and a thermometer to screen and sanitise the pupils’ hands.
Also, a teacher joined the pair to record the names of the pupils and their readings. 

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