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Kids had only been back at school for a couple of weeks when this happened. Off since March and now with the spike supposedly happening soon will they go back at all this year?
I was talking to Dee my house maid on Friday about her sons education. Yes we still have maids in this country and it is a better paid wage than where she was working at a company before. Her son is in Matric or the last year of school and she has some serious concerns. Obviously with the school being closed for a large chunk of the year students at Government schools are at a huge disadvantage compared to Private.
Private schools have been allowed to remain open which is massive for them. Other students look as though they are going to be rolling this year into next year. How they are going to do that is going to be interesting as I can see many falling behind and repeating the year. The truth is they are expecting more lock downs so in other words it is feasible that one year of school could actually last two years now.
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Don't trust a word they say these days. Didn't know there were any reputable news sites. I am sure most Government Official kids are in private schools anyway.
I do feel sorry for them as that means you have kissed one year of your life good bye. This I can understand as I spent two years in the Army doing National Service and if I had known that 5 years after me it would all come to an end I would have definitely made a different choice. I grew up quickly after school hastened by the Army, but that would have happened anyway whatever path I had chosen.
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Private schools not affected for now and remain open.
Two years is a long time that one could have spent doing something else whether it was University or College or even working getting life experiences. Opting out was not an option as it was a 3 year jail term and many were locked up. Life for me would have turned out remarkably differently as I would have most likely left this country for good and who knows where I would have ended up.
I knew one older platoon member who had been dodging the army for years and was enlisted at the ripe old age of 30. He was a model so he got plenty of stick from the much younger Corporals 10 years or more younger than him. He turned out to be a Montgomery and was a future Springbok rugby players dad as his son Percy became the leading points scorer of all time for the Boks. This was the reason many of us enlisted straight away in order to get it over with and not hanging over our heads as even at 30 you weren't safe.
Life is short enough and time wasting has always felt uncomfortable on my shoulders. Why do something tomorrow when you can do it now as one never knows what tomorrow brings and that is very true. South Africa is still third world in many aspects of day to day life so giving students tablets to work from home won't really work. Many don't have electricity and the ones that do it is unreliable. Dee has been without electricity for 6 weeks already and is using a solar powered light that we gave her. The repair time for the mains in her area is uncertain so it could still be weeks if not months away. Her son can at least study at night by some form of light which is not ideal.
I just hope the Government doesn't mess these kids around too much as I can see some things being skipped or a repeated year next year for the majority. Dee mentioned she had heard via the school that this had been discussed at length already and was a huge possibility. On the other hand Private schools have a years advantage over everyone else and possibly is worth the extra for those that can afford it.