Schools reopening
DA heads to court to force govt to allow pupils to return to school full time
The party there was no justification to continue with rotational learning.
Wednesday is the first day of a fresh school year with over one million pupils returning to class in the province.
The department said classes at 11 schools in the uMkhambathini area were now expected to resume on Thursday.
On 3 August 2021, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga visited schools in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, to monitor the reopening and readiness of primary schools.
Winter holidays were abruptly brought forward last month due to the third wave of COVID-19 infections.
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.
With COVID-19 protocols still in place, lessons are still being split to ensure adequate social distancing.
The Basic Education Department has assured South Africans that measures have been put in place to address the potential spread of COVID-19 in schools.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga on Sunday briefed media on the state of readiness for public schools, which were expected to officially reopen on Monday following a two-week delay.
COVID-19 essentials, stationery and textbooks had already been distributed to most of the province’s over 6,200 schools.
The debate on shutting schools during the COVID-19 pandemic has been revived by the emergence of more contagious virus mutations.
But when schools reopen in February and when the first vaccines arrive, the ANC wants teachers to be prioritised like other frontline workers.
Perhaps we should be changing our mindsets altogether when it comes to living through a pandemic, writes Cindy Poluta.
Some independent schools had already started with teaching and learning last week when the Department of Basic Education announced that schools would only reopen in mid-February.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited Helpmekaar Kollege in Johannesburg on Monday after reports that the school had begun classes after the announcement that all schools would delay reopening until 15 February 2021. #COVID19 #GautengEducation #PanyazaLesufi #SchoolsReopen
They say while an agreement was reached to push back the return of pupils, they were never consulted about the early return of school management teams and teachers.
Deputy Minister of Basic Education Reginah Mhaule briefed the media on Friday on the state of readiness by the Basic Education Department. The deputy minister announced that due to increased COVID-19 cases, schools had to delay reopening by two weeks.
Some pupils in private schools returned to the classroom on Wednesday for the start of the 2021 academic calendar.
Deputy Basic Education Minister Reginah Mhaule said that the Council of Education Ministers together with Cabinet had taken a decision to postpone the reopening of schools for both private and public schools.