Publications
Elite private schools should be allowed to determine their own affairs but they should work also towards a more equitable society, and sometimes, demonstrate the respect and good sense to put the best interests of society ahead of their own, writes Frans Cronje.
An unfortunate inversion played out this week as teachers' union, Sadtu, and the government demonstrated more enlightened opinions on education and the broader Covid-19 pandemic threat than South Africa's elite private schools.
The simple math is that the reopening of schools would have put an additional estimated 15 million people into social circulation – a number calculated from the sum of pupils in South African schools, together with some estimates of teachers and support staff. That circulation would have created opportunities for much new viral cross-pollination which would, in turn, have risked further pressure on hospitals and healthcare workers, many of whom are already serving the country at great personal risk where they confront terrible daily traumas.
