Guest : Andre Gaum | Commissioner at South African Human Rights Commission                                                    ( SAHRC)

The South African Human Rights Commission says it supports schools staying open and more children returning to class. The commission says it fully supports UN agency Unicef’s findings that more harm will be done to children if they discontinue learning.

The SAHRC says its position to support children going back to school was based on, among other factors, the fact that by the end of July, depending on the grade pupils were in, children would have lost between 20% and 50% of scheduled school days because of the pandemic. 

The commission says for many poor children the meal they get at school constitutes a high percentage of total food they would receive daily. 

The Chapter 9 institution recently conducted an electronic survey of public schools in the country on their readiness to receive additional pupils. It received 4 485 responses, representing close to 20% of the country's schools.

The poll found that over 90% of the schools surveyed reported that all pupils wore masks at schools, while 95% of them reported staff also wearing masks.