Cabinet to decide on closure of schools – Motshekga

This comes after the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) called for the closure of schools during the Covid-19 peak season, anticipated to be reached in August and September.

The council of education ministers held a meeting on Tuesday, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on the reinstatement of level 3 lockdown on Sunday.

The department’s spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said there were ongoing discussions in government and cabinet regarding the phased reopening of schools during the peak of the pandemic.

He said one of the resolutions the meeting was for cabinet to take the decision regarding the reopening of schools during the peak season.

“At the appropriate moment cabinet will take a decision on the matter.”

Mhlanga said one of the main reasons for the phased-in reopening of schools was to make sure the right to basic education for all children was equitably provided.

“During levels 4 and 5 of the national lockdown, most children from the most rural and remote areas of the country, especially learners from quintiles 1-3 schools, could not access any form of online teaching and learning.

“This, inadvertently negatively affected these children’s unfettered right to basic education. It is particularly the poor, who continue to be at risk if schools do not reopen.

“Critical in the phased reopening of schools, was adherence to the health, safety and social distancing protocols as determined by the department of health.”

Mhlanga said Motshekga would consult with the department’s stakeholders, including unions to obtain input on the issue.

The consultations would be concluded on Friday, he said.

“The engagements will inform the ministers’ proposals to the cabinet at the weekend. An announcement will be made once all the engagements have been concluded.

“We wish to restate that the decision to reopen schools was taken by cabinet after extensive consultations, which culminated in the phased approach.

“Schools will remain open until further notice.”

Pupils having access to school nutrition during the reopening of schools was one of the reasons cited by the department on their decision to open schools.

“There are the learners who were deprived of the meals due to the lockdown. With the reopening of schools, we are now feeding our learners; we have further expanded the feeding to learners, who are not yet back in schools.”

Regarding Covid-19 school tender corruption allegations, the department said the auditor-general was auditing the procurement processes for virus essentials at schools.

On school attendance, the department bashed claims that there was poor attendance.

“South Africa is doing admirably quite well. On average, current learner attendance at our schools stands at around 80%, which is much better than many other countries.”

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