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SCHOOLS in and around East London have been gripped by World Cup fever, with information about the visiting countries, their flags and what they represent being incorporated into everyday school activities.

Some schools have spent a good part of the second term discussing the World Cup, taking advantage of the hype around the activity to bring pupils up to speed on the countries and their players.

At Vulamasango High School in Mdantsane, life orientation periods have been largely dominated by issues around the World Cup, and before pupils wrote their exams they were fully informed about what the event meant to the country.

The school’s acting deputy principal, Unathi Dlulane, said among the issues discussed were what pupils and their families should expect with the arrival of thousands of visitors to South Africa.

“We may be far from the major cities which will be hosting teams and games, but we have told them to be wary, for instance, of child trafficking,” she said.

Children at Learn and Play Educare have been taken through the national anthem, have learnt about the flag and its different colours, and what the World Cup and Fifa are. “In line with the World Cup, we have tried to expose them to more than the usual, and have talked to them about the fact that East London is a part of South Africa, where a lot of different countries will be visiting,” principal Deo Eddy said.

Saying that every Friday staff and pupils spent some time learning the diski dance and singing in the playground, Eddy said they had also used the opportunity to teach the children about good behaviour and character traits, and hospitality in general.

At Merrifield College, pupils were educated about the different countries, their flags and what they stood for. On Friday, when they break up, pupils will present what they have learnt – and then get to watch the opening ceremony and match.

“The teachers have been using the World Cup theme in their lesson plans,” school spokesperson Gill Andreas said, adding that Fridays saw everyone don the school’s own supporter T-shirts and dance the diski dance . — By NTANDO MAKHUBU and DALE SCOGINGS.

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