The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has urged Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga to reconsider the date for the return of Grade 7 and Grade 12 learners to school, saying many schools have not achieved the required readiness to receive learners.

The commission undertook independent monitoring of schools for readiness in all nine provinces, as well as consultations with various stakeholders, including teachers’ unions and school governing bodies.

The SAHRC was concerned about whether schools would be ready to receive learners by June 1, considering that only 3 days remained before the date of opening, considering the amount of work that appeared to still need doing to ensure adequate levels of safety.

“Most observations from our provincial offices highlight the shortage or inadequacy of water and sanitation as well as personal protective equipment (PPE). Some even reported that the necessary training was still outstanding. Other observations made during monitoring in provinces are that the levels of readiness for many rural schools are significantly low,” said the SAHRC.

The commission raised its concerns in a letter to Motshekga, saying while it supported the opening of schools as soon as possible to give effect to the rights of learners to education, it believed that this should be done with reasonable and adequate measures and efforts to safeguard the right to health of learners and educators.

The SAHRC said it was important that necessary minimum conditions be met for the reopening of schools – access to adequate clean water and sanitation, social distancing protocols, the availability of PPE, training and the general sanitisation of schools.

The SAHRC also explained its concerns regarding the digital divide affecting learners, saying it had called upon the National Coronavirus Command Council to address this issue and would continue to engage government in this regard.