BOSETU, Gov't To Thrash COVID Issues Out
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday February 1, 2021 15:54
Already BOSETU has called on the Ministry of Education to close schools for at least 14 days for the cases to go down and the spread of the virus to subside. Schools around the country have been registering positive cases for both teachers and students. The main worry for teachers unions is that in some schools it takes long for contact tracing to be done while other schools keep operating even when high numbers are being registered.
“We have not received any correspondence from BOSETU. But we are having a meeting with them very soon regarding COVID-19 issues.
For us, one case is alarming because we want zero cases in our schools,” Molao said yesterday. The Monitor has learnt that both the Ministry and the Unions might take a resolution for school closure for cases of COVID-19 to go down and curb further spread of the virus. “The schools might be closed for some of the standards to be met, but only the crucial ones may open like Standard 1, 4 and 7, Form 3 and Form 5. Again the meeting will come up with strategies that could be used to avoid the spread of the virus in schools,” a source said.
Meanwhile, BOSETU secretary general Tobokani Rari said: “Of course there is evidence from the numbers from our survey that teachers are badly exposed, the student community is badly exposed and consequently, this will expose, in a bad way, the whole community where these schools are found and consequently the whole nation.”
“This situation seen from our report commentary is made worse by the fact that the Public Health Department through the DHMTs has let the guard down, they have compromised procedures concerning contact tracing and quarantining,” he said.
He added that they have seen situations where teachers and/ or students would confirm to be positive and their close contacts tested but still be allowed to remain in the school environments as they would be urged to continue reporting to work.