**4. The DBE policy guidelines on the safe reopening of schools**

The DBE under the guidance of the Department of Health (DoH) developed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prepare all administrators on how to stop the spread, and manage COVID-19 cases within schools [2]. The SOPs explain the measures and protocols to be followed in the education sector to ensure safety against COVID-19 infections. Its main objective is to explain procedures to be followed by office managers, and school leadership in case there is a confirmed or suspected incident of COVID-19 infection in the work or school space [2]. These guidelines equip all leaders with information on how to act rationally and calmly when handling emerging cases. The guidelines also explain important terms used in the COVID-19 context, for instance, exposure levels, which explain how much contact a suspected individual has had with one whose infection has been confirmed by testing with another one who has been confirmed to have the infection and quarantine, which explains a period that one should spend in isolation from other people after testing or coming to contact with a confirmed case. This period had initially been put on 14 days but on 17 July 2020 the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) reduced it to 10 days minimum following guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

#### **4.1 Duties of COVID-19 committees at school**

The guidelines position principals as compliance officers at schools, responsible to apply all prescribed COVID-19 measures. These include the creation of COVID-19 committees. Although the COVID-19 pandemic demands a task-oriented response from leadership, situational factors like the skills and maturity to manage certain responsibilities oblige principals to delegate duties in a people-oriented manner. This necessitates the understanding of the levels of competency team members possess to carry particular responsibilities [4, 5]. COVID-19 conditions presented novel challenges to all concerned at the school level. Relevant training on COVID-19 for committee members to gain knowledge and confidence needed to be ensured by the principal of the school.

Duties of the committees included a range of activities such as initiating COVID-19 awareness programmes for their schools and communities; erecting signs and posters educating the public about hands and respiratory cleanliness; preparing and maintaining hand washing stations containing soap and water, 5 m away from toilets and bathrooms; ensuring the availability of hand sanitisers with a 70% alcohol content at entrance points of classrooms, teacher staff rooms, reception and waiting areas, and

all offices; managing daily removal of garbage from the school; and ensuring that the school buildings are properly cleaned and disinfected as per the DBE regulations. These committees are also tasked with the preparation of well-ventilated and equipped rooms for isolation purposes. They are also responsible to ensure the observance of social distancing in all spaces of the school and to encourage learners, and staff to properly wear their face masks. Another important duty for the committee is to ensure that there is enough personal protective equipment (PPE), for the entire school community.
