TimesLIVE, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga met the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) on Monday to discuss schools’ readiness to open their doors again under Level 4 of the lockdown, implemented to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.
News24 reported on Monday that Motshekga also met teacher unions and school governing body (SGB) associations to consider various reports on schools’ state of readiness.
TimesLIVE reported that two officials who participated in the meetings told the publication that only Gauteng and the Western Cape were ready to open because they bought hand sanitisers and face masks as part of the non-negotiables required before pupils’ return.
The Eastern Cape reportedly indicated that it could not guarantee that it would be able to open schools’ doors on June.
The remaining six provinces are at different stages of readiness.
Two weeks ago the minister announced that school management teams (SMT) would return to schools from Monday, 11 May to prepare for the phased-in return of pupils and 1 June was the proposed reopening date.
On Monday, the department announced that Motshekga would provide final dates and detailed plans on Thursday for the phased-in approach, following her meetings on Monday.
Ahead of that briefing, the minister will brief Cabinet on Wednesday on the education sector recovery plan.
– Compiled by Vanessa Banton
