AECI Eco-Schools Water Education Project 2020 - Modderfontein

The COVID-19 Response Strategy

A reworked and trimmed curriculum coupled with ensuring health and safety of the entire school community will be a challenging task for teachers. How will teachers be supported to focus on quality education and ensuring the health and safety of the school’s community? Water and sanitation are the biggest needs for schools to be ready to reopen. Resources for the constant supply of these 2 basic needs can be a problem in schools and can thus cause unsafe conditions. Social distancing, with the number of learners currently in classrooms, will be a serious challenge. Ensuring inclusion and equity – making sure all schools, especially the most vulnerable have access to the right tools and resources in this global crisis. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has identified the need for schools to be reopened in order to save the 2020 academic year. The national recovery plan includes a staggered approach for learners to return to school and have set out clear plans for how this must be done.

TheCOVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected howwe implement our current Eco-Schools projects. More so, it has affected educational systems worldwide, leading to the near-total closures of schools. This is especially the case for fragile education systems and the negative impact will be more severe for disadvantaged learners and their families. Distance learning, open educational applications and online learning is not possible for all learners due the huge digital divide in South Africa. COVID-19 readiness for more than 23 000 of our public schools is proving to be an enormous challenge with so many of them experiencing water shortages, resulting in poor sanitation. With overcrowding, infrastructure and sanitation problems in many schools in South Africa, the plan to reopen schools requires bold leadership and planning. Food security in schools and communities has noticeably become a major challenge during this time. Good health is imperative to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and thus we need to urgently ensure food security at schools.

Eco-Committee at Chloorkop Primary

AECI Modderfontein 2020 23