The South African Human Rights Commission (the SAHRC or the Commission) regards the South African government’s decision to keep schools closed for all grades (except Grades 7 and 12) until 24 August 2020 as regrettable and unjustifiable. 

The decision means that by 24 August 2020 over 10 million South African children, depending on the grade they are in, will have lost over 50% or 100 scheduled school days as a result of COVID-19 school closures.

The Commission’s view on the opening of schools is guided by the evidence provided by a range of researchers that point to the devastating consequences of children not being at school:

In summary, researchers present evidence of the following: 

• Increases in hunger and malnutrition. For many poor children the meal they get at school constitutes a high percentage of total food they receive daily.
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• Increases in acute malnutrition significantly raise the risk of children dying from pneumonia, diarrhea and HIV/AIDS.
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• Poor children are not being screened for diseases which kill thousands of South Africans annually and severely compromise many more, notably TB and HIV.
• Increased risk of child abuse, mental health breakdowns with rising rates of depression and anxiety.
• Children are at high risk of being left home alone when their caregivers go to work. The President’s announcement is unhelpful in this important matter.
• Increases in inequality since poorer learners and schools are least able to continue learning
• Poorer children regress significantly in terms of reading and maths skills during extended absence from school.

On this last matter, the Commission notes that independent schools, which serve both affluent and poor communities, may remain open. In addition, current directions from the Department of Education allow schools to deviate from the dates for the opening of schools for particular grades. The SAHRC’s survey with over 4 500 respondents shows that shows that 43% of schools intend to request approval to deviate from the dates published for the opening of schools. 

Both these factors are likely to exacerbate the inequalities in education.

On the other hand, the Commission welcomes the announcement by President Ramaphosa that all nine million qualifying learners who have not yet returned to school will be provided with meals in line with the judgement of the Gauteng North High Court on 17 July 2020. The Judge ordered the Department of Basic Education and Provincial Departments of Education to resume the National School National Programme (NSNP). 

The Commission’s support for the resumption of the NSNP is supported by the finding of a large-scale study (NIDS-CRAM) conducted in April and May 2020 of the increasing cases of hunger among children.  In the sample of 7 000 respondents, 21% reported that someone in the household had gone hungry in the last 7 days and in households with a child, 15% respondents reported that a child had gone hungry in the last 7 days. 

However, the Commission regrets that the President’s public announcement suggests that the continued closure of schools constitutes a ‘break’ for teachers and learners. 

A growing body of international and local research provides evidence of the devastating and long-term effects for young children not reading and writing for extended periods. The Commission will therefore focus on access to food and learning materials for learners at schools and for those waiting to return to schools.

From 3 August 2020, the Commission will monitor the provision of food to qualifying children in all grades and the provision of learning materials at the same time as providing food. 

In doing so, the Commission shall seek expertise and guidance on these and other issues.

Issued by the South African Human Rights Commission