Adjusted alert level 4: Here’s what you need to know about school closures

* School management teams, teachers, learners in hostel facilities, and learners with special education needs who are waiting for parents to pick them up, should report to school until Friday, July 2.

* Public schools will return from the winter vacation on July 19 instead of July 26, as was originally scheduled on the 2021 school calendar.

* Schools will make the necessary arrangements to continue to provide food to those learners who are beneficiaries of the National School Nutrition Programme.

* The usual Winter Vacation Learner Support Programme for grades 11 and 12, organised by provinces, districts and schools, will continue under very strict conditions in compliance with Covid-19 health and safety protocols.

* Given the fact that only a few learners are writing the May/June 2021 examinations, these will continue. Again, strict Covid-19 health and safety protocols will apply.

* The vaccination programme for basic education sector personnel will proceed as planned. Workers are advised to adhere to their schedules and Covid-19 protocols, as stipulated in the regulations. Schools designated as vaccination sites must remain open to continue with the vaccination programme.

The minister mentioned that these protocols have the buy-in of stakeholders such as national teacher unions, representatives of national school governing board associations, associations for learners with special education needs, and others for independent or private schools. Discussions will be ongoing.

The education department will monitor Covid-19 developments to see if further adjustments are needed. In May, it was announced that primary schools would return to normal daily attendance in July and this is one of the issues that will be reviewed if necessary.

Higher education and early childhood development centres

* Institutions of higher education to close for contact classes from June 30.

* Early childhood development centres (pre-schools, etc) to remain open.

Vaccination of education and basic education sector staff

* More than 200 000 educators and staff have been vaccinated to date.

* The sector has a target of 582 564 personnel who are eligible to receive the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

* The Department of Health has assured that additional doses will be sent to areas that have depleted their vaccines.

Learner support programmes

Remote learner support programmes have been activated with immediate effect. These include the Woza Matrics 2021 Catch-Up Programme and the Tswelopele Campaign established by the Department of Education in collaboration with the National Education Collaboration Trust.

“These national supplementary remote learning campaigns have been developed to support 2021 matric learners and learners in the general education and training band from grades R-9. They contain supplementary support content that will enable learners to catch-up on learning losses; and enable them to enhance, acquire and develop crucial knowledge, skills, attitudes and values during the academic year,” Motshekga said.

The campaigns provide digital and non-digital learning resources in partnership with a range of content providers through the DBE-TV on Open-View Channel 122, SABC 1 and DSTV Catch-Up, YouTube channels, as well as digital and mobile chat platforms.

A detailed list of the resources is available on the education department’s website.

“We implore parents, guardians and caregivers to ensure that during the recess, children continue to learn, using the available resources. Doing so will protect the gains that have already been achieved,” Motshekga said.

Safety

She encouraged learners to remain safe, not to gather in crowds, to apply hygiene practices at all times and to avoid activities that may expose them to infection.