Teacher makes protective screens to keep students safe during the Covid-19 pandemic

Angus Hartley, a teacher at a primary school in Cape Town, South Africa, created protective screens to keep their students safe in class. Schools all around the world were coming up with solutions for classes to take place while following the required health and safety measures. But that was particularly challenging for the GJ Joubert Primary School since, according to Principal Martin Leukes, the school is very poor. But the teachers, aware of the situation, are always creating new ideas to solve the problems.

That’s precisely what happened this time. Teacher Angus Hartley was the one who came up with the idea. He explained that the school has “a problem of distancing in our classes and I inquired [about buying screens] but they were very expensive for our school”. So, he decided they should make their own protective screens.

The protective screens are placed on top of each student’s desk and are made up of a 3-sided wooden frame, covered in transparent plastic sheets. The wood was collected from a local wood factory and the plastic sheets were already available at the school so they only had to buy the screws and staples necessary to build the frames.

With the help of his fellow teachers, they have been making shield for every desk, as the students gradually return to school, to make sure every child is protected.

“We should have 21 learners in a class - that is why we came up with the screens. The screens keep them safe, especially for the droplets. It’s safe for the learners, it’s safe for the teachers, although they wear masks.

Adapted from: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-06-09-poor-cape-town-...