SADTU: 'Schools are not quarantine sites'

KZN Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu says he supports the government's decision to place matrics with Covid-19, in isolation rooms to write their NSC exams. 

Basic Education's given more details on how it would work. It says learners who come to school, will be taken to a separate isolation room, that's well ventilated. 

There, they'll be monitored by an invigilator who sits 5 meters away. 

After the exam, the invigilator will put on gloves and place the exam answer sheet in a sealable plastic bag. 

That bag is then sanitised and put in a jacket with the rest of the scripts. 

The department said on Wednesday, on the eve of the matric finals, that pupils with Covid-19 won't be turned away and those who are healthy enough to write the exams will be allowed to do so. 

Mshengu, who visited a secondary school in Maritzburg yesterday, says that makes sense. 

READ: COVID-19: SA infections, deaths spike

The learners who would have tested positive or who will present a high temperature than usual upon arriving at school will not be sent back home. 

"We have arranged isolation rooms for them to write their examination. So they will not be chased back home. We want to communicate that message clearly unless  a learner has been admitted to hospital," said Mshengu. 

But teachers' union Sadtu is against the idea, saying it's not in line with safety guidelines. 

In KZN yesterday, three learners informed the school authorities of their diagnosis and wrote English Paper 1 in a separate room. 

The union's Nomusa Cembi says they've asked to meet with the departments urgently. 

"Schools and exam centres are not quarantine sites." 

"We call on them to find proper quarantine sites for them to write their exams so that they do not spread the virus. We want this urgent meeting so that we can come up with ways of how this can be done. We understand that it is a logistical nightmare," Cembi.