I am upset. The nonchalant attitude of some citizens regarding Covid-19 troubles me. Many of our citizens appear in public or stand in queues at shopping centres without masks. All this, while infections increase daily. When I wrote about Covid-19 for the first time on 17 March 2020, South Africa had 62 confirmed cases. After 15 weeks, the number has grown to an alarming 215,000.

Youths of school-going age wander around aimlessly or hang out in front of shops without practising physical distancing. Many of them share a cigarette. That they could contract the virus does not seem to bother them. A clear sign that they are uninformed. This is information they would have obtained at school.

Meanwhile, high schools are very busy preparing matriculants for the final examination. Grades R, 6 and 11 joined Grade 7 and 12 in some provinces. Initially, more grades would have returned, but Minister Angie Motshekga has yielded to the pressure from teachers and parents as some schools are not ready to welcome more learners back to school. Currently, 2,740 teachers and 1,260 learners are infected with the virus. Teachers and parents are rightly concerned. The many demonstrations seen lately are a testimony to this. It requires an urgent conversation because citizens have legitimate fears which deserve to be addressed.

Some schools face profound challenges for which solutions must first be found. The parent community must understand why the government perseveres with the point of view of scientists worldwide that there is no proof that the risk at schools is greater than at home. A report recently released by the National Institute for Infectious Diseases also indicated that the virus is more moderate in its effect on children than adults, which must also be communicated to all. Because, for education to really get going again, everyone must be on the same page.

Recently, it was announced that the unemployment rate has now risen to more than 30%. Approximately 11 million South Africans are currently jobless, while only 16 million are employed. Out of 10.3 million young people aged between 15 and 24, a total of 41.7% or 3.5 million are unemployed and not in school or studying. More alarming is that, with Covid-19, this number will increase. The right of matrics to write exams is thus a priority. If not during 2020, then during 2021. For many young people, it is their only passport to work and a better future. The alternative is to become part of the unemployment statistics.

What can schools do? Schools can start to inform learners about Covid-19, even if it means adapting the curriculum. In addition, learners must urgently receive training in skills which give them access to work and make worthy citizens of them. Like entrepreneurship. This is the one skill which can turn joblessness around. 

During the drought in 2017, a few young people began to install water tanks in people’s gardens. With Covid-19, they expanded their business: they now install water tanks at schools for the necessary washing of hands. Similarly, youths in Langa with nine second-hand bicycles started to do shopping for senior citizens. This caught the eye of a sponsor and today it is a profitable business which provides work for 30 young people.

Young entrepreneurs thus see opportunities in a crisis and come forward with new ideas, or adapt old ideas to the new normal. Value and services are created for which others are prepared to pay.

In this way, young people generate an income for themselves which enables them to be independent and to make a contribution to the country’s struggling economy.

After all, this is what education is about: Preparing our children for life. DM