DA calls for Motshekga to decide on schools closure soon

The DA has called on the national Department of Education to urgently decide on whether schools would be closed during the Covid-19 peak.

With the growing calls from teachers’ unions for all schools to close, education minister Angie Motshekga’s “silence is only causing further panic, anxiety and confusion”, said DA parliament member Nomsa Marchesi.

Last week, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) alongside other leading teacher unions called for the closure of schools.

Marchesi said Motshekga and her department need to show “decisive leadership” and keep schools operating and phase in more grades.

“The public needs urgent answers from the minister on when additional grades will return,” she said.

“On 2 July 2020, the minister announced changes to the phased reopening of schools.”

Due to the spike in Covid-19 infections across communities, fewer grades were allowed to go back to school. This meant only grades R, 6 and 11 could return to school on 6 July.

“The minister needs to give clear directions on what the next step is for schools to phase in the remaining grades that should have been phased in this month.”

Marchesi claimed that some provinces already decided not to continue with the phasing in of the other grades.

“Recent reports indicate that KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo have decided to suspend the return of other grades to schools. It remains to be seen whether more provincial education departments will cave into the pressure of trade unions who seemingly do not want to see learners complete their academic year,” she said.

“We call on Minister Motshekga to show decisive leadership during this time before thousands of learners are prevented from accessing their education.”

She reiterated the DA’s call of learners to return to school and where there was no adequate provision of keeping learners safe then this may be delayed.

“With no teaching and learning taking place for learners that have been not been phased in yet, the question then becomes, what plans do unions and all those who are calling for the closure of schools have to ensure that learners are indeed learning while they are at home?”

This as the education department last week said the decision on the proposed school closure would be made by the cabinet and announced by the minister.

The date of the Motshekga’s announcement has not yet been revealed.

Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news

Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).