The debate around the resuming of basic education in the country has finally came to an end after the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga announced this afternoon that schools are to reopen from next month after being forced to shut early before the end of the first term in March due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
As of Tuesday evening, day 54 of the lockdown, South Africa has 16 433 confirmed positive cases and 186 deaths. With level 3 looming, some lockdown regulations are set to be relaxed from the beginning of June.
The resumption will begin with Grades 7 and 12 while others are set to follow gradually. All schools in all provinces will receive teachers from next week Monday 25 May for personal protective equipment (PPEs) deliveries and to assist with the preparations of the official resumption of schools in the country.
Motshekga says the recent vandalism incidents forced them to deliver and store the PPEs at more safer places like warehouses. She also urges the public to help the police trace criminals who vandalised schools.
As teachers are expected to return to work on Monday, Motshekga says they are equally concerned with safety of the children that’s why they looked at how countries like France and Denmark have gone about the resumption of schools.
Deputy Minister Makgabo Mhaule says the decision comes after the directive from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other world governing organizations that being out of school increases child pregnancy and high sexual exploitation among other things.
She says parents must clearly declare their children’s conditions in an attempt to protect both children and parents, and parents have the right to keep their children away from school but they should opt for home schooling.
Mhaule says the matric curriculum cannot be trimmed because their examination papers were set a long time ago and cannot be changed even though there is a new revised school calendar that is soon to be gazetted.
She says there is no problem benchmarking with European countries than with African countries because there are countries within the continent that have zero Covid-19 infections. As a result, they can only draw lessons from countries who have been affected by the pandemic.
Basic Education Director General, Mathanzima Mweli, concluded by saying anything done at this stage must be led by experts, that’s why they are led by the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC).
Cover image: enca.com
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