MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Learners at Indwe Secondary School in Mossel Bay have been protesting in front of the school gate since this morning.

They are demanding that the whole school must be closed to be disinfected, following the positive Covid-19 test result of a learner.

A spokesperson for the Representative Council of Learners (RCL) told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that a learner tested positive for Covid-19 and that they want the whole school to be disinfected.

The Department of Education however, earlier explained that a confirmed case did not necessarily require a school to be closed.

In each case, a number of factors will be considered in making the decision.

“Firstly, the areas where the staff member/learner has physically been present need to be disinfected. For example, if a staff member has only been in one or two rooms, it is possible for schooling to continue by cordoning off and sanitising those rooms,” said department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.

But, learners are now demanding that a department representative address them at the school entrance today.

The learner alleged to the Advertiser that teachers were not being transparent about the number of positive Covid-19 cases at the school.

“We heard from a teacher that two other teachers had been in isolation since testing positive. Why does the school not tell us this directly?”

The learner said fellow learners who had tested positive or who had been in close contact with a person who had tested positive, did not receive any support from the school in the form of study material for the isolation period.

The Advertiser sent an enquiry to the Department of Education and is awaiting its comment.

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