The Eastern Cape education department will be hiring 800 unemployed people to help in the first phase of schools reopening which will take place on the 1st of June. Angie Motshekga, Minister Basic of Education said that schools will only open for grades 7 and 12 nationally.
The support staff will be assisting with the sanitization of pupils and also make sure that physical distancing rules are adhered to. The temporary job will be a fixed contract of three months and the recruitment will be done by principals and the SGB.
“There is no emphasis on qualifications, but people must be able to read and write. The deployment of the workers will be based on the number of pupils at a school” said Loyiso Pulumani, Department of Basic Education Spokesperson. Moreover, a circular by the department states a school with more than 1,000 pupils may hire up to four people, who will be paid a stipend of R2,500 a month.
Pulumani said that schools without ablution facilities will not be opened. “Instead, pupils at those school will be taken to other schools. “The move to recruit the helpers was to ensure adequate support in schools. Recruitment will take place this week,” he said.
“We can’t expect teachers to sanitize pupils and do that process of screening. Essentially, children in school need monitoring and they [the recruits] will make sure that within the school walls, physical distancing is adhered to, “concluded Pilumani.
