- Out of 23 675 schools, 23 100 are ready to open on Monday.
- All schools in four provinces are ready to reopen.
- The Department of Education is in the process of revising the 2020 school calendar year.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has admitted to having “sleepless nights” about when to reopen South Africa’s schools, which has been confirmed for Monday for 95% of schools in the country.
She made this admission on Sunday in a statement to the nation.
Thanking a range of national and provincial departments, communities, private sector and the president, Motshekga said in a statement: “We must also single out our parents, teachers and learners, who had to patiently endure the ill-effects of the abnormal 2020 school calendar year with us.
“We can assure you that your anxieties are ours too; we too have spent the sleepless nights you spent.”
“We have done and will continue to do our level best to ensure that our schools are safe.
“All of us are therefore, called to do whatever we are expected to do, to ensure that our school communities and spaces do not become the new hotspots for the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added.
Next is the “phased reopening” of public and independent schools, with a cluster of grades returning on 6 July; and the last cluster back on 3 August.
READ | Here is when your grade is going back
“We are in the process of revising the 2020 school calendar year to accommodate the peculiarities brought by the novel Covid-19 pandemic,” Motshekga said.
She reiterated the legal framework in place still catered “for instances where parents may choose to keep their children at home fearing that they could be infected by Covid-19”.
Around 95% of schools are now ready to reopen.
These included:
– Eastern Cape: 4 660 out of 5 064.
– Free State: 1 123 out of 1 123.
– Gauteng: 1 917 out of 2 017.
– KwaZulu-Natal: 5 975 out of 6 000.
– Limpopo: 3 711 out of 3 711.
– Mpumalanga: 1 772 out of 1 815.
– Northern Cape: 556 out of 556.
– North West: 1 570 out of 1 570.
– Western Cape: 1 816 out of 1 819.
All in all, 23 100 schools of 23 675 are ready.
For the remaining 5%, Motshekga said: “Where practicably possible, learners from the ‘not-so-ready schools’ will be moved to neighbouring schools that meet the health, safety and social distancing set measures and requirements.
“The teaching and learning programmes provided online will continue; and parents who are uneasy to send their children back to school, must follow the law to ensure that their children’s right to basic education is unhindered.”
