Academic year to be extended beyond 2020

Schools will again be closed from Monday as government braces for many parts of the country to reach a peak in Covid-19 infections in the coming weeks.

The current academic year will also be extended beyond 2020.

While most grades will only return to school on August 24, pupils in matric will return on August 3 and those in grade 7 on August 10.

The closure was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in a televised address on Thursday night.       

Many Eastern Cape teacher unions and organisations had anticipated that schools would be closed for three weeks, not four.

However, they told DispatchLIVE earlier on Thursday that regardless of the length of the hiatus, it was hoped that concerted efforts would be made to provide proper water and sanitation and “tie up loose ends”.  

There are now  408,052 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country, making it fifth highest in the world for infections. More than 6,000 people have died.

“In approaching the reopening of schools, we always said the health of learners and educators  is critical. We adopted a cautious approach to schooling,” Ramaphosa said.  

“Now with number of infections rising, there have been calls for schools to close again. Over the last few days the minister of basic education [Angie Motshekga]  met with organisations and consulted with Council of Education Ministers. These consultations provided many important insights.”

Ramaphosa said it was difficult to find consensus on the best approach, but everyone agreed that the health, academic and social development of pupils should remain the foremost concern. This was in line with the World Health Organisation guidelines, he said.  

He said the management of the school year into 2021 would be managed by Motshekga, and further details would be made in due course.

“The national school nutrition programme will continue to operate so parents can collect food from schools. Many learners will be disappointed and families will be inconvenienced but we ask you to do this because schools must not become sites of transmission,” the president said.

Teacher union representatives in the Eastern Cape told the Dispatch that the closure was a “step in the right direction”. 

Public Servants Association (PSA) provincial manager Thami Makuzeni said: “We hope that all the loose ends will be covered during this closure, like proper sanitation and building of schools.

“It saddens the PSA to learn that learners at Mcheni Primary School [Tsolo] have not set foot in school since the opening of schools due to failure by the department to pay the contractor. Instead of flushing the money on luxurious digital tablets, that money can be used to build proper toilets for the schools, build schools and provide proper sanitation.

“We hope the department will look into these loopholes and address them in this temporary closure period of schools,” Makuzeni said.

Naptosa in the Eastern Cape said the closure of schools would allow unions time to fully engage with the department on how schools should be repaired.

Naptosa provincial CEO Loyiso Mbinda said: “Three weeks may be the proposed time, cabinet might say something different. Whatever the number of weeks will be, we need to make sure we use them effectively to engage the local and national departments on how to effectively fix matters of sanitation and infrastructure at schools.

“An evaluation will be done to assess their state of readiness before they can open again.”

The National School Governing Body (NASGB) association in the Eastern Cape said unprecedented times called for an “effective and immediate” adjustment in the school curriculum, particularly for grade 12 pupils.

NASGB provincial chairperson Monga Peter said: “Schools are grappling with the social, safety and health wellbeing of learners and teachers while they're expected to educate learners effectively. The effects of Covid-19 haven't been pleasant and obviously, no-one will have the perfect outcome.

“However, attention must me drawn to revise the curriculum, particularly for grade 12s, so it can be aligned with the programme of the higher education sector.” - DispatchLIVE