SOME PARENTS STOP CHILDREN FROM GOING TO SCHOOL

MBABANE – Just a week after schools opened, some parents have taken a decision that may have harsh consequences on the future of their children.

The parents made a decision to stop their children from attending school, mostly because they deemed the whole process as being high risk. Thandi Zwane, a parent of a St Francis Primary School pupil, said she realised there was more risk in letting her child attend school than having her stay at home. She has since stopped her Grade V child from going to school.
“I witnessed so much chaos on the first day when I dropped her off. There were a lot of pupils and we know how children behave when they see their peers,” said Zwane. She also mentioned that naturally, children were wayward and from what she saw at the school premises, she would rather let her offspring stay at home.

Confusion

“There seems to be a bit of confusion at the school too as some children were turned back, some came without face masks. I can only imagine what happens when we are not there as parents,” stated Zwane. It should be noted that the first day of schools opening was marred by total chaos, though things slightly improved as the week progressed. At first, some teachers found themselves with more pupils than they could handle as the schools did not have the capacity to accommodate all the pupils. Also, there were not enough teachers to cater for the pupils, something which government has rectified through the promise of hiring about 900 by the end of this week.

Further interviews revealed that there were some parents who had resorted to keeping their children at home until operations at school ran accordingly. Their arguments were centred on the looming third wave and the COVID -19 safety measures. “My child only attended school on Monday and I then took the decision to stop her from attending. My decision was informed by the confusing learning rotational schedule,” stated Nolwazi Dlamini, who is a parent of a Mater Dolorosa Primary School pupil. The parent said she could not fully ascertain the COVID- 19 safety measures in the school because there were children involved. Another parent said the holidays confusion was one of the reasons she stopped her child from going to school. She was referring to the Easter holidays as some people were of the view that schools should have been opened after the holidays.

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