LIVE UPDATES | No guarantees at school, says education minister

May 19 2020 - 18:35

"We are responsible for 16 million kids, not individuals"

In response to a question on how the department would be able to guarantee the health and safety of learners, parents and grandparents, minister Angie Motshekga said the department could make no guarantees to individuals as the department was responsible for all the country's children.

"The bottom line, is school is good for kids," she said.

May 19 2020 - 18:25

Education minister says safety in schools is priority

Basic education minister Angie Motshekga has confirmed that schools in the country will begin reopening from June 1, as planned.

 "The virus has forced us to re-engineer the basic education system." She said: "For learners, we will be reopening on the 1st of June... We will start with Grade 7s and 12s." 

She said the preconditions for the reopening of schools will be met. This included the delivery of personal protective equipment and the cleaning of schools.

She said education officials met with teacher unions again on Tuesday to update them on the reopening of schools. Motshekga urged parents whose children had comorbidities to work closely with the schools on managing their situations. 

The remaining grades will be phased in and those dates will be published in the Government Gazette soon, said Motshekga.

May 19 2020 - 18:06

Education minister says safety in schools is priority

The coronavirus has brought a lot of trauma and anxiety, education minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday.

She was aware of the many questions about the future of the academic year. It was important that the opening of schools did not contribute to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This was uncharted waters, she added. There was an ongoing debate about children and contracting the virus.

She used the opportunity to condemn the "disturbing trend" of the vandalism of schools, saying a total of 1577 schools countrywide had been targeted.