BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Saturday briefed the media on the state of readiness for the reopening of schools in South Africa.

The minister said that the sector had targeted 582,000 personnel in the Basic Education Sector to be vaccinated, “and when we formally closed the vaccination programme, we recorded 517,000 people, who have received the vaccines – an 89% vaccination success rate”.

“Reports on the reasons for outstanding numbers, include distance to vaccination sites, vaccination hesitancy, preference of one type of vaccine to another, recent positive Covid-19 results, as well as medical and religious reasons – all account for some of the people, who are still not vaccinated,” Motshekga said.

On the reopening of schools

The minister said that depending on confirmation by president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, as a sector there is agreement across the board, that the department is ready for the reopening of schools on Monday, 26 July 2021.

“School Management Teams and support staff, have already gone back to work, as from Thursday, 22 July 2021, to prepare for the return of learners and teachers on Monday, 26 July 2021.”

Based on the information obtained from provinces, Motshekga said that schools are ready to continue to work within the established Covid-19 health protocols.

She also added that the country is ready to start resuming full school attendance in primary schools from 2 August 2021.

“The sector continues to be committed, and at all times we are ready to maintain a balance between saving lives and livelihoods while fighting the coronavirus pandemic,” the minister said.

On the vandalism of schools

The minister expressed deep concern about the vandalism of schools in recent weeks. During the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, schools and education centres were damaged, vandalised and looted, Motshekga said.

The KZN Department of Education has submitted a list of 137 schools that were vandalised, three education centres, and eight circuit offices that were affected.

In Gauteng, more than 43 schools have been vandalised since the year began. Eleven of the cases were reported after schools went on a recess on 2 July 2021.

On May/June matric examinations

The 2021 May/June examination is the second examination opportunity that is offered to candidates who wrote the November 2020 examinations; and is also an examination for adult candidates sitting for matric examinations, the minister said.

The writing of this examination commenced on Wednesday, 26 May 2021, and concluded on Wednesday, 7 July 2021.

A total of 249,851 candidates enrolled to write this examination. This included both the National Senior Certificate and Senior Certificate candidates. 106,711 of these candidates were National Senior Certificate candidates, and 143,140 of these candidates were Senior Certificate candidates.

This examination was conducted under strict Covid-19 protocols and they were followed to the latter, the minister said.

The DBE and the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) monitored the writing of the May/June 2021 Grade 12 examination.

“The writing of the examination was successfully concluded without any major disruptions. With the early closure of schools on 30 June 2021, due to the move to adjusted Alert Level 4, school principals were requested to administer the examination until its conclusion,” Motshekga said.

The marking of the May / June 2021 Grade 12 examination, commenced on 8 July 2021, and concluded on Monday, 19 July 2021. A total of 772,404 scripts had to be marked, and a total of 9,323 markers were utilised for the marking across the 54 marking centres.

“Even in this instance, Covid-19 health protocols were strictly adhered to. Despite the protest actions and the looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the marking was successfully completed; and the capturing of marks is currently in progress.

“The DBE will complete the processing of all candidate data for the Umalusi standardisation meeting of 06 August 2021, and the results will be released to candidates on 24 August 2021. The NSC candidates, who were not successful in this May/June examination, can register to write the November 2021 NSC examination,” Motshekga said.

On school calendars

The minister said that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused serious disruptions in the sector, and plans have not always gone as intended.

“This has, however, not deterred us from continuing to plan, as we are confident that at some point, we will find a way to return to normal business. Earlier this year, we published the school calendar for 2022. As usual, we followed the necessary steps that involve public participation to obtain input.”

The minister said that the proposed school calendar for 2023 has been gazetted for public comment. It has been published on all the DBE platforms.

The proposed calendar has coastal schools reopening from 18 January until 31 March 2023, while the inland schools would reopen from 11 January to 24 March 2023.

Teachers from coastal schools would return on 16 January, while inland teachers would return on 9 January.

It also proposes that the fourth term run from 10 October to 13 December 2023, for both inland and coastal schools.

“A staggered calendar is proposed – one for coastal provinces, and another for inland provinces. As I said, your inputs are important, and we urge you to go through the proposed 2023 school calendar and submit your comments in writing. The details are available on the draft calendar itself,” the minister said.

Business Tech

Being out of school not only leads to learning loss but mental distress, exposure to violence and abuse, missed school-based meals and reduced development of social skills.

This is according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) South Africa representative, Christine Muhigana, who said countries like South Africa need to “reimagine education”.

Muhigana called on all stakeholders in the education sector, globally and locally, to help give learners access to devices, data and skills necessary to navigate online resources.

She said without these many children will be left behind amid the coronavirus pandemic that forced schools in the country to shut down.

The impact of disrupted education since the Covid-19 outbreak in South Africa has been devastating, with learners between 75% and a full school year behind where they should be, according to latest statistics. 

Difficulties included rotational attendance, sporadic school closures and days off for specific grades, have resulted in school children losing 54% of learning time. 

According to the National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) some 400,000 to 500,000 learners have reportedly also dropped out of school altogether over the past 16 months.

READ: School dropout rate increased drastically during lockdown

Muhigana said this is most likely for children living in informal urban and rural settings, with household poverty also playing a critical role.

She said the total number of out of school children is now up to 750,000.  

“The reality is that South Africa cannot afford to lose another learner or another hour of learning time,” said Muhigana.

“It is urgent that we get every child back into the classroom, safely, now,” she said.  

Muhigana said the education system cannot afford any further shocks, such as the recent unrest which resulted in more than 140 schools being vandalized in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

This comes on the back of the more than 2,000 schools that were looted and damaged during the hard Covid-19 lockdown last year, she said.

READ: 130 schools damaged by KZN Shutdown riots

Muhigana said in the longer-term, the skills needed to transition into working lives will be affected.

She said evidence also shows that when children are out of school, women are twice as likely to take on childcare responsibilities, affecting their ability to work or search for work,” she said  

“Remote learning has been a lifeline for some children but for the most vulnerable in South Africa, even this was out of reach,” said Muhigana. 

“We need to ensure that we prioritize vulnerable girls and boys in all our efforts to keep children in classrooms,” added Muhigana.  

Adding that the twin burden of Covid-19 and recent disruptions equally affects teachers, supporting and improving their well-being should be a priority.

Muhigana said the basic education sector must take advantage of emerging technologies to accelerate education service delivery will help regain the ground lost.

She said following the Covid-19 outbreak, education had to be quick and adopt to rotational classes, as well as access to online, radio and TV educational resources.  

“We are glad that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) is hosting the first ever ‘Teacher Wellness Seminar’ and that Unicef is committed to provide its full support to the education sector,” she added.  

According to the DBE website, the national department, in collaboration with teacher unions, international and multilateral partners as well as the Education Labour Relations Council will host the first ever teacher appreciation and support seminar on Friday.

This is part of the basic education sector’s response to the impact of Covid-19 on schooling.

Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga will address the Virtual Teacher Appreciation and Support Programme Conversation with key stakeholders.

Muhingana said Unicef will be lending its support to the Department of Basic Education and partners in the ongoing efforts to promote community dialogues that engage parents, caregivers, and community leaders in school life, as well as to increase their ownership over local schools, which in-turn can help ensure their protection. 

NYAKALLO TEFU|

As the fate of contact classes continue to hang by the thread in a world gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, the University of Cape Town (UCT) has become the first tertiary institution in Africa to offer an Online High School platform.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng said affordable, quality education is the most important tool every South African needs as this will qualify them for employment or a university degree.

She said the model would democratise the education system by giving students access to the “most affordable private school” in the country “offering a high-quality education with support from expert teachers and mentors”.

Present at the briefing was UCT Chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, UCT Council Chairperson Babalwa Ngonyama, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer.

Phakeng said the online high school learners will commence with online classes from January 2022. Grade 12 classes will only start in 2023.

Adding that university said applications for the online classes are officially opened.

“This is the only way we can close the inequality gap in this country,” said Phakeng.

Adding that the online high school is not only a necessity for the university sector, but for everybody in the country.

READ: 130 schools damaged by KZN Shutdown riots

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in closure of schools not only in South Africa but across the world, which has raised concerns of learners missing out on a lot.

Since the start of the pandemic, learners in South Africa have been returning to school based on the statistics of the virus and waves that have gripped the nation.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa called for the closure of schools as the third wave of the virus hit South African shores, with numbers increasing drastically by the day.

READ: Schools remain shut in 19 countries including South Africa

Schools are set to reopen next week, however, that will be determined by the president’s address on whether the country will be on a different alert level.

Educators Union of South Africa’s (EUSA) spokesperson Kabelo Mahlobongwane said it is high time the country moved to other forms of teaching and learning.

“The world is moving to the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the department of basic education should follow suit,” said Mahlobongwane.

Mahlobongwane said they have been calling for the department of basic education to look at ways for teaching and learning not to only happen in classrooms, especially during a pandemic.

UCT partnered with education technology company Valenture Institute and it will be offering online a CAPS-aligned curriculum for learners in grades 8 to 12.

“This announcement is very exciting for education in South Africa. The personalised learning experience is welcome and in line with what more people are desiring,” said Western Cape MEC for Education Debbie Schäfer.

Schäfer said Covid has shown that education can be done differently and whilst it will not be for everyone at this stage, it can assist offering different options.

“I am particularly excited about the free online content and have asked the Western Cape education department to consider how we could use this in our system,” added Schäfer.

Phakeng said the university’s online high school will allow learners to have the option to attend the most affordable private school in the country offering a high quality education with support from expert teachers and mentors.

It will also include an entirely free online school platform, with a high-quality, interactive curriculum for any teacher and learner to use for a broad range of South African CAPS subjects.

“UCT will continue to be the best university in Africa, and the best university for Africa. But we will now offer a top-level high school education, not just to a select group of learners, but to all high school students on the continent,” said Phakeng.

The school has two offerings: the formal high school where students are enrolled at a fee of R2,095 a month, the second is access to a free zero-rated platform for the general public to access the curriculum without mentorship or tutoring.

Phakeng said learners will not follow a standardised teaching schedule with live classes but have asynchronous timetables and access to one-on-one as well as group sessions with teachers.

Applications for the school are open and can be accessed at www.uctonlinehighschool.com.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has called on the South African government to put children and young people first in the country’s recovery out of unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic.

The organisation made the call ahead of the Nelson Mandela Day, following a week of unrest in the country resulting in the deaths of at least three children – a 15-year old boy a 14-year old boy and a 14-year old girl.

Christine Muhigana, Unicef South Africa representative said the organisation is devastated for the individuals, families and communities affected.

READ: Nzimande says the food prices following unrests will affect students

“We’ve also seen widely shared and shocking images of a two-year-old girl thrown from a building to be saved from a fire in Durban, with other social media content showing the participation of children in looting,” said Muhigana.

The riots came at a time when the country is battling a third Covid-19 wave. With schools already closed due to high infection rates, children are more at risk of being caught up in or involved in unrest, said Muhigana.

She added that the safeguarding of children from voluntary or encouraged involvement in the lawlessness is critical and that communities must come together to protect children.

“Law enforcement agencies also need to exercise restraint and protect children at every step of the way, in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and national legal instruments,” she said.

Muhugana said the unrest has also affected the country’s Covid-19 response.

“Some vaccination sites have temporarily closed, while health clinics have been damaged and medical stocks reportedly looted.

“Just as the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out had been gathering pace, statistics showed a drop in vaccinations in areas where the unrest was at its worst. This puts more lives at risk. Large crowds that are not practicing Covid-19 prevention measures could further fuel the spread of the virus,” said Muhigana.

READ: Education sector vaccination drive falls short

Routine child and family health services have also been disrupted.

According to Unicef the national routine immunisation coverage for children under one year is at 79%, already 4% below pre-Covid-19 rates and well under the 90% target.

Since schools closed, reports that many children who depend on the National Feeding Scheme did not receive food also circulated.

Education activists and school governing bodies have returned to the courts to fight for school meals for learners.

Equal Education and the school governing bodies (SGBs) of two Limpopo schools, represented by SECTION27 and the Equal Education Law Centre (EELC) said they are returning to court against the Department of Basic Education and provincial education departments for failing to rollout the National School Nutrition Programme to every single eligible learner in South Africa, for over a year.

This plight was further exacerbated by riots that saw more disruptions to food supplies.

According to Communication Specialist for Unicef South Africa Sudeshan Reddy the latest figures show that child hunger has not declined from the high rate of 14% and that three million children live in households affected by hunger.

“Screening for malnutrition in the early days and years of life, promoting breastfeeding and improving education on good nutrition can help but only when there is access to nutritious food for all,” said Reddy.

Unicef also called on the country’s government to prioritise the issue of youth unemployment.

According to UJ Professor and associate at the Centre for Social Development in Africa Lauren Graham,  youth unemployment is one of South Africa’s most intractable challenges and has been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Prior to the pandemic the unemployment rate, including people who had given up looking for work was just under 70% for people aged 15 to 24. A year later [in 2021] the rate had increased to 74.7%,” said Graham.

READ: Let them eat cake: hunger and food riots in South Africa

Graham added that young people on the continent are the most affected by unemployment and underemployment and they are struggling to survive.

“They are poor and are stuck in ‘waithood’ –a prolonged period of suspension in which people’s access to social adulthood is delayed or denied,” she said.

Unicef’s Muhigana said South Africa’s level of youth unemployment, at nearly 75%, is unsustainable.

“Initiatives such as Generation Unlimited, which brings together the private sector, academia, government, the United Nations and many others are working to provide young people with relevant 21st century skills, mentorship as well as supporting young entrepreneurs so some of the most vulnerable young people can transition into working lives,” she said.

Adding that it is child and youth-led actions that give expression to Madiba’s words that children are the “rock on which our future will be built, our greatest asset as a nation. They will be the leaders of our country, the creators of our national wealth who care for and protect our people”.

“As we move forward, we must give children every opportunity to do just that,” said Muhigana.

NYAKALLO TEFU and MMADIFEDILE MOFOKENG|

Early Childhood Development (ECD) staff will be part of the 240 000 workforce who will get vaccinated as part of the Social Developments sectors vaccine rollout. 

The vaccination drive kicked off on Monday and is set to end on 23 July. 

Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu said they anticipated that the vaccine rollout programme will target just over 240 000 workforce throughout the sector.

Zulu said the roll-out plan will enable business continuity of our social services currently in high demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“The department has been working with the ECD Inter-Sectoral Forum to ensure that no-one is left behind, given that ECDs remain open whilst schools are closed and practitioners are equally at risk of the contracting the virus,” said Zulu. 

According to the department’s spokesperson, Lumka Oliphant, the vaccination drive on Monday kicked off in the Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Northern Cape provinces.

Western Cape and Limpopo will begin their provincial roll-out on Friday.

READ: DBE requests extension for education sector vaccination programme

The department says  the Early Childhood Development (ECD) workforce is inclusive of ECD practitioners and staff who work in the ECD environment.

Zulu said her department has been working with the ECD Inter-Sectoral Forum to ensure that no-one is left behind.

“This includes all ECDs both registered and unregistered with government, including centre and non-centre-based programmes,” she said.

Adding that ECDs were very important given that they remained open while schools were closed.

“Practitioners are equally at risk of the contracting the virus. We want to highlight that.

“It is important to highlight that only those who are registered on the Department of Health’s Electronic Vaccination Data System system will be eligible for vaccination, as there is no paper-based registration process at vaccination sites.

“Details of all vaccination sites, provincial and district coordinators, including the ECD forum coordinators will be published on DSD National, Provincial Departmental and the Departments’ Agency’s websites,” added the minister.

Oliphant said the department also makes calls upon members of the public to desist from spreading negative information about the vaccine which may cause vaccine hesitancy.

“Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing infection, especially severe illness and death.

“The vaccine reduces the risk of people spreading the virus that causes Covid-19. Covid-19 vaccines are a key tool in ending the pandemic and getting societies back to normal,” she said.

NYAKALLO TEFU|

University of Cape Town (UCT)’s masters student Nicholas Notten has won the Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships.

The Championships were held in Lanzarote, Spain, from 4 to 6 July 2021. 

The International Canoe Federation (ICF) Ocean Racing World Championships is an annual international race for long-distance surf skis also known as sea kayaks, where all the competitors race in one event for the world title.

The 25-year-old UCT student was born and bred in Cape Town and has always been close to the sea, where as a child became part of the live saving staff.

“At some point I started doing junior [surf] lifesaving, which led me to senior lifesaving. In turn, being a surf lifesaver I then became a competitive sea kayaking,” said Notten.

The world championships drew more than 250 competitors across multiple divisions (from juniors up to masters) from over 20 countries.

“In surf lifesaving there are various races in the different lifesaving crafts, one of which is the surfski. This is similar to the ocean racing kayaking,” added Notten.

Notten said the preparation was a little bit on and off unfortunately because of the COVID crisis.

“Us as South Africans not knowing if we would be able to make it to Lanzarote was one of the other challenges we faced,” said Notten.

The South African team, which normally has 30 or more members, consisted of only eight competitors. This was due mainly to pandemic-related reasons such as travel restrictions.

The 25-year-old said he just kept his head down and was very optimistic and, in the end, it worked out for him.

“The conditions we had for the race were a 1.8 m swell with a 20-knot wind, for the race I maintained an average speed of 3:21 minutes per kilometre, finishing almost a minute ahead of the second-placed paddler,” added Notten.

The 25-year-old is currently in Germany and is set to return to South Africa at the end of July.

“For UCT and South Africa, it is great to have people involved in sea kayaking who are not only participants, but are also at the pinnacle of the sport,” said the 25-year-old.

“For me personally, it means a great deal. I am very honoured to have the title, and grateful to have had the opportunity to race and represent South Africa,” said Notten.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced local organisations in both the public and private sectors to embrace digital transformation and the digitalisation of internal processes.

Analysts say that those that have not yet embraced online education are in imminent danger of falling behind.

Dr Cerene Rathilal, a lecturer at the University of Johannesburg said online education has become increasingly important considering that online engagement is the new norm.

“Online education and engagement are a hybrid approach that will likely remain the medium of instruction in the foreseeable future,” said Rathilal.

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Soweto Science Centre in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, Africa Teen Geeks and UNICEF hosted a virtual Teacher Training workshop this month. The workshop aimed at equipping teachers with the necessary skills needed to create an effective online environment for learning.

READ: Technology in the classroom

Analysts and policy makers say that the move towards digital and Industry 4.0 technologies and methodologies is no longer optional if an organisation or country wishes to survive amid the “new normal”.​

Analytics software solutions provider at Analytics Software & Solutions South Africa education manager Adesh Nathalal said a key concern when implementing Industry 4.0 technologies in South Africa – and in Africa in general – is the employment factor.

Nathalal said it remains a significant challenge to implement a just transition to Industry 4.0 technologies and simultaneously retain jobs.

Dr Lungile Sithole, Director of the Soweto Science Centre said teachers play a noteworthy role in the upliftment and transformation of our society and as such, it is important that they receive continuous training and development.

Sithole said the Soweto Science Centre was primarily established to address pressing problems associated with human capital development, which South Africa as a member of the global community of nations is grappling with.

“Our mandate is geared towards the provision of tuition to learners and development of teachers in order to improve the quality of mathematics and science education in South Africa”, said Sithole.

READ: South Africa needs tech classrooms

Teacher training workshops are hosted annually at the Soweto Science Centre.

Sithole said this is where skills and competence development are a key part of the programme.

The Teacher Development Program seeks to promote the professional development of teachers on a broad scale, he said.

Adding that the program runs in tandem with UJ’s learner enrichment program which provides meaningful learning opportunities for both teachers and learners.

DR ANDRE HEFER|

As one of the largest institutions in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, Nelson Mandela University is on a water emergency and sustainability drive to address the looming Day Zero crisis.

The projections are that the four Summerstrand campuses and the Bird Street Campus in Central could be without water from the end of September 2021 or earlier.

Certain areas in the metro could be subjected to water outages as early as July 2021.

At great but necessary cost to Mandela University, the institutional water management and risk mitigation plan has been accelerated. The plans, upscaled from June last year, are well into the implementation phase.

These plans are predominantly focused on the Summerstrand campuses (Ocean Sciences, North, South and Second Avenue) as these are situated in an area classified as a red zone for municipal water supply.

At full capacity, the university’s total water usage across all its campuses is 1.5 megalitres or 1.5-million litres per day during peak periods. Up to 70% of this usage is on the South Campus.

During this Covid-19 period, there are 18,000 students and approximately 2,500 staff members on the North and South campuses. This includes 3,500 students living on campus residences.

The residences are 97% full as many of the students who live in circumstances that are not conducive to online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic, applied to return to campus.

READ: Unflushed toilets threaten children’s health at Langa High School

The university is doing everything it can to ensure that students and staff will continue to enjoy a supply of water come Day Zero.

A water emergency management team comprising water scientists and technical support staff, that works closely with the municipal disaster management command centre and the Business Chamber water task team has been constituted.

Emergency management measures are being implemented along with a comprehensive water awareness campaign to bring our students and staff on board and ensure they actively assist in reducing water consumption on campus and curtail any wasting of water.

In anticipation of the progressive and drastic reduction of supply, a three-prong water emergency management strategy has been implemented on the campuses since last month.

The strategy, which includes the use of technology, source diversification and user adaptation solutions, is intended not only to mitigate negative impacts of the current drought but also advance the ongoing institutional sustainability drive.

The technical team is working hard to increase the storage capacity of critical buildings and residences that do not have emergency water reserves. Most buildings already have some storage tanks and an additional 95 x 5,000l water tanks have been purchased to be installed at critical areas across our campuses.

These efforts build on the 36 meters and electronic readers already installed at student residences on the North, South and the 2nd Avenue campuses. Three bulk meters were also installed on South Campus, as well as electronic remote readers. An additional 58 meters for all other South Campus buildings are currently being installed.

Also being explored is the installation of flow restrictors on the taps while also replacing the flushing mechanisms of toilets to a cistern-less system using flush valves. These valves are expensive to install but are very hard-wearing and long-lasting. They flush directly from the water supply, using up to half the water of a cistern system. By mid-August 150 flush valves would have been installed on the South Campus.

READ: Day Zero: Sadtu accuses Premier Helen Zille of delaying water plan announcement

The sport fields historically accounted for about 20% of total water use on the Summerstrand campuses. The university is now buying water (at R2.20 per kl as opposed to R17 per kl for potable municipal water) for its sport fields and gardens from the Cape Recife Waste Water Treatment Works which generates quality return effluent (RE) water to a treatment standard that is safe for irrigation, which if not used would go into the ocean.

Some 1.7Ml of RE water per day can be extracted and stored in a recently built 1.3Ml holding dam.

The new residences will use alternative water sources for flushing toilets and urinals. Two existing residences are already using RE and two more will do so by year end.

RE is a massive solution for universities, big businesses and operations in the Metro and beyond, as toilet flushing accounts for approximately one-third of all water usage per day. It’s criminal to use potable water for this purpose.

Two boreholes linked to the North Campus and Sanlam Residence Village residences, have been drilled. They are achieving a good yield of 80,000-100,000 litres per day. The university is exploring adding boreholes on Missionvale and Second Avenue Campuses.

However, with approximately 150 boreholes drilled over the past two years across the metro, institutions and residences need to be mindful of the negative impact boreholes can have on groundwater reserves.

It is generally accepted that user adaptation is one of the highest impacts and cheapest approaches, and the university has significantly stepped up its water awareness campaign on campus and among students and staff.

The awareness campaign includes close consultation with students on the proposed emergency water management solutions. Every single member of the university community needs to play their part since if the institution runs out of water, students and staff would have to return and stay home. Needless to say, this would be disastrous for the academic project.

Dr Andre Hefer is a Sustainability Engineer at the Nelson Mandela University.

A team of scientists have developed a new diagnostic methodology enabling a non-invasive, fast and highly accurate way of detecting tuberculosis (TB).

Approximately 95% of TB cases occur in developing countries, including locations where people live on less than one US$1 (R14.50) per day. About one‑third of the world population has latent TB with a lifetime risk of 5 to 10% of developing active TB.

According to research HIV co‑infection, smoking and malnutrition greatly increase this risk and speed up the TB epidemic.

Despite advances in TB diagnostics, millions of patients continue to receive an incomplete or delayed diagnosis, as the physical signs and symptoms of TB are nonspecific.

Professor Keertan Dheda, the head of UCT’s Centre for Lung Infection and Immunity said the new diagnostic pathway called A‑Patch includes nano sensors, can detect TB compounds emitted from the skin. Dheda said a specifically designed sensor array translates these findings into a point‑of‑care diagnosis by discriminating between active pulmonary TB patients and controls with sensitivity above 90% and 70% specificity. “This fulfils the World Health Organization triage test requirements and has the potential to become a TB triage or screening test,” said Dheda.

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain.

READ: University of Pretoria Researcher’s Team Discovers New Compounds With The Potential To Eliminate Malaria

The bacteria that cause TB are spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Most people infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis don’t have symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they usually include a cough (sometimes blood-tinged), weight loss, night sweats and fever. Treatment isn’t always required for those without symptoms. Patients with active symptoms will require a long course of treatment involving multiple antibiotics.

The study, titled “Profiles of volatile biomarkers detect tuberculosis from skin”, was recently published in the Advanced Science journal.

READ: Africa Must Have Research And Treatment Tailored To Its Reality

To create a robust tool for TB diagnosis, the study used samples of 320 people in Cape Town and 316 in New Delhi in India were processed and analysed.

The study population included newly diagnosed and confirmed pulmonary-active TB cases, healthy volunteers, and confirmed non‑TB cases.

Dheda said the study was a further step toward assimilation of the developed sensor­‑based system to be applied in real‑time at healthcare facilities without the need for expensive laboratory equipment.

“Implementing the sensor array approach into an adhesive bandage is an additional step toward a simple and cost‑effective wearable patch to address the TB epidemic in both developing and developed countries,” he said. “This platform is expected to provide the foundation for the development of a wide variety of low‑end and high‑end wearable patches that can detect a wide variety of diseases and illnesses detectable by ‘sniffing’ the corresponding skin‑emitted compounds.”

Dheda said two in five TB patients globally remain undetected and thus good community‑based screening tools for TB are urgently required.

“Many existing diagnostic tests are slow, have low sensitivity and/or specificity, and at times are too expensive or complex for resource‑limited settings.

“For example, a sputum smear is too insensitive, and mycobacterial culture takes four to eight weeks and at least two to three visits by the patient to finalise the diagnosis and begin treatment. This process is time‑consuming, labour‑intensive, requires highly trained technicians, and the method is based on challenging specimen collection and processing, both of which can greatly affect the sensitivity,” said Dheda.

All primary school learners, as well as pupils attending special needs schools, are to return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model from August 2.

This is according to the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Minister Angie Motshekga who, on Thursday, published the updated return dates and plans for schools in South Africa.

Motshekga said schools will reopen on 26 July. She said teachers will have to use the week of July 26 “to finalise the preparations for the return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model on August 2… provided that the risk adjusted differentiated strategy is implemented”.

Motshekga said school principals, as well as the school management team and non-teaching staff will return to school on 22 July to prepare for the return of learners to school on 26 July.

“Educators must continue with teaching and learning from 26 July in accordance with the timetabling model adopted by the school, until 2 August, from which date the return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model must be implemented,” said Motshekga.

Adding that independent schools must close for contact classes until 26 July 2021.

READ: BREAKING: Schools to remain closed until 26 July

The gazette comes despite the surge in Covid-19 infections across the country.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), an additional 11 215 new COVID-19 cases that have been identified in South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 295 095.

This increase represents a 29.3% positivity rate on Sunday, slowly declining from the 15,939 new Covid-19 cases reported on Friday, said the NICD.

“The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng (39%), followed by Western Cape (19%). Limpopo and Mpumalanga each accounted for 9%; KwaZulu-Natal and North West each accounted for 7%; Eastern Cape accounted for 5%; Free State accounted for 3%; and Northern Cape accounted for 2% of today’s new cases,” the NICD said in a statement.

A study by the National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) shows that the average Grade 3 child in June 2021 would have the same learning outcomes as the average Grade 2 child in June 2019.

The study shows that between March 2020 and June 2021, most primary school learners in South Africa have lost 70%-100% – close to a full year – of learning relative to the 2019 cohort.

According to the DBE, in 2020, South African primary school children in no-fee schools learnt 50-75% less than what they normally learn.

“Two large, independent studies showed that, depending on the subject, learning losses in no-fee schools in 2020 ranged from 50-75% of a year of learning when compared to children in 2019,” said DBE Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.

READ: Schools on track to open even with rising Covid-19 infections

Another NIDS-CRAM study shows that the majority of parents and caregivers in South Africa (58%) have also agreed that children should be able to attend school every day, rather than rotational timetables.

“There were strong racial differences with the highest rate of agreement among White respondents (85% yes) and Coloured respondents (69% yes) and the lowest rate of agreement among Black Africans (56%),” reads the study.

Motshekga said the move to take schools back to traditional and daily attendance timetabling model from August 2 is important because about 93 days of schooling have occurred between 15 February 2021 and 30 June.

The minister said evidence points towards additional effects of ‘forgetting’ or regression that could hinder current learning, particularly if teaching occurs as if the content of the previous year’s curriculum has been mastered, let alone learnt.

Some teachers’ unions have welcomed the school’s reopening delay to July 26 but suggested distance and remote learning as Covid-19 infection rates continue to surge.

READ: School dropout rate increased drastically during lockdown

But Ben Machibi of the Professional Teachers Union said even though they are concerned over loss of academic time, they are more concerned about the disparities that remain in this country.

“Children in private schools continue with remote learning, the masses aren’t able to continue. As the numbers go down, we will work around the clock to ensure that all work is covered,” said Machibi.