Today Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga briefed the media on the sector's preparedness for the planned reopening of schools on Monday, 26 July 2021.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the sector is ready to open schools depending on what President Cyril Ramaphosa says during his address to the nation on the alert level 4 lockdown on Sunday.
Schools have been closed since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the adjusted alert level 4 lockdown restrictions to ease the country's infection rate.
The Basic Education Department said that while they initially targeted 582,000 people in the sector, they'd now added over 789,000 staff including food handlers, janitors and support staff from independent schools and ECD centres on the EVDS system.
On Saturday, Motshekga held a media briefing and provided an update on the basic education sector’s response to the impact of COVID-19 on schooling.
Motshekga held a media briefing on Saturday, 19 June where she gave an update on COVID-19 infections and the upcoming staff vaccination drive in the sector.
The official rollout for teachers will kick off on Wednesday, 23 June 2021, and will continue until 8 July – a day before schools close at the end of the second school term.
The Department of Basic Education is currently investigating the possibility of returning all learners at primary school level due to the learning losses suffered as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, but no decision has yet been made.
Six pupils from the Jim Chavani Secondary School lost their lives last week when the bakkie they had hitched a ride from lost control and crashed into a house.
The minister was one of many who paid tribute to the liberation struggle veteran Graeme Bloch and education specialist at a memorial service held at St Georges Cathedral in Cape Town on Friday.
The DA said that the Department of Basic Education seemed comfortable with what it called 'mediocre' standards.
The minister said that the value of school uniforms should never be undermined as they hid the massive inequalities that existed in society.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said said that the group demonstrated the resilience of the system which withstood administering exams under tough conditions.
As hundreds and thousands of pupils return to the classroom it’s a frustrating start for some parents who have children not yet placed in a school.
Learners in public schools In January, the department announced a two-week delay in the school calendar following an increase of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Minister Angie Motshekga will announce the readiness of her department to welcome learners back to school after it delayed the 2021 academic calendar, by at least two weeks last month, due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
South Africans will be eagerly waiting to hear what Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has to say when she addresses the nation on Friday around her department’s plans to reopen schools.
The High Court in Pretoria has found that the decision by the Basic Education Department to rewrite two leaked papers was unlawful and irregular and that it should be set aside.
