The Western Cape Department of Education has called for the scrapping of the one metre rule in schools citing long-term negative consequences.

This comes after Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday that there were no plans to change the Disaster Management Regulations in schools, except as they related to the number of spectators at school sport venues.  

The department claims that despite Motshekga calling for all primary schools to revert to full attendance in July last year, and the following of a risk-adjusted approach, depending on the direction the pandemic is taking, this has not happened as Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma promulgated a regulation stating that the social distancing measure in primary schools is “reduced to one metre”.

The Western Cape Department of Education says only about 12% of primary schools can comply with these directions, meaning about 88% of primary schools are operating on a rotational basis, despite efforts to revert to full attendance.

According to the National Income Dynamics Study Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey published last year, in 2020 primary school learners in no-fee schools have learnt 50% to 75% less than what they normally learn.

In 2021, there continued to be significant teaching time losses, as a result of rotational timetables, according to the survey.

Education experts, including Nic Spaull from Stellenbosch University, have repeatedly called for the end of the rotational model as its continued implementation could potentially result in a “lost generation” of learners.  

Spaull has indicated that, based on projections, the average grade 3 child in June 2021 knows about the same as the average grade 2 child of 2019.

“Other areas of concern are the fact that many learners are not able to access the feeding programme as often as they should, and that the on-off attendance at school is contributing to a higher dropout rate."

In addition, there has also been a huge psychosocial impact on our learners, teachers and even parents.

Implementing a rotational model in schools is not easy. It requires dedicated planning and continued pressure to keep up with the curriculum while teaching different cohorts of learners on different days, the Western Cape Education Department said.

It says it has been inundated with complaints from parents wanting rotation to end.

Meanwhile, Motshekga said that the department is exploring possibilities to return schooling to normal, “but we need to do so responsibly”.