We noticed some signs of anxiety in pupils – Fonteyn Principal

Mbabane: Fonteyn High School Head Teacher, Alice Nzima, told this publication that as teachers they noticed some signs of fear on some of the pupils as they made their way into the school.

From what the teachers have seen it is clear that the learners are fully aware of the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, and are careful not to endanger their lives by not sticking to the set rules.

Nzima said the students were keen to observe every step of adhering to the Covid-19 regulations like maintaining the social distancing and sanitizing their hands. “We have observed that the learners washed their hands for the stipulated period of 20 seconds without being supervised, as well as observing social distancing,” said the head teacher.

Regarding the online learning, Nzima said the method proved to be a steep hill for some of the learners who were not accustomed to such methods, and thorn on the flesh was that some were without data hence they could not return their assignments. “However, administratively, we are well prepared and have everything in place to compensate for time lost,” said the principal.

 A risk worth taking

Meanwhile, some learners at the learning institution shared their excitement about the reopening of schools, saying they had been praying for the day to come.

Simphiwe Xala (19), said as learners they were aware that there are risks involved with returning to school, but they were ready to face the battle, armed with the lessons they have taken on preventing contracting the coronavirus. Xala said for the next two days they will be taking lessons from the Covid-19 National Task Team including the police and officials from the Ministry of Education and Training, who at the time of the interview were busy talking to the learners.

Xala disclosed that they are now relieved as learners because they will no longer struggle to get data to do their lessons through e-learning, something which came after the outbreak of the coronavirus.

She said a lot of learners were left behind in the learning process due to limitation in terms of proper smart phones and lack of airtime, adding that they had pinned hopes on getting supplies from the government. She said as learners, they would unite against the pandemic fight, which will include reminding each other to adhere to the laid down regulations.