The Professional Educators’ Union (PEU)welcomes the lifting of a sizable number of lockdown regulations, to allow movements across the country, in an endeavour to ensure that the country’s economic activities resume in earnest.

 Ben Machipi: PEU General Secretary

As this happens, PEU leadership echoes and amplifies the message by President Ramaphosa, that the lifting of regulations is far from suggesting that the virus has disappeared, and that people should remain vigilant and always practice safety measures at all given time, and should never, not even for a moment, allow complacency to creep in, as that could be suicidal.             

Wearing of face masks remains mandatory

The lifting comes at a time when schools will be reopening for all learners, in the coming  week, which then calls for much more responsibility for teachers, in ensuring that safety measures are strictly adhered to, notwithstanding all sort of potential challenges  that might come with the high enrolments, in majority of our schools.

We call upon all our members to ensure that each learner is provided with a face mask and is screened before entering the school premises. That all COVID-19 positive cases become promptly reported and ensure that such affected schools are closed and decontaminated, in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures.

  Teaching in the context of COVID-19

Lastly but not least, we urge all teachers in general and PEU members in particular, not to abuse alcohol and should remain custodians and embodiment of high moral ground in communities they serve. It remains our mandate and  responsibility, as workers of the mind, to tirelessly educate the nation on how to protect itself from pandemic and that  in the absence of the vaccine, key to the fight against  virus is adherence to non-pharmaceutical measures.