Disappointment over school reopening postponement
Local Centurion school Uitsig High School was among those that could not wait to resume the school year.
Several school teachers, learners and parents were disappointed as the first day of school was postponed once again following the strict two-month lockdown.
With the easing of the current lockdown to level 3, schools around Tshwane worked around the clock to get ready when the re-opening of school for matrics and grade 7 learners was postponed.
Local Centurion school Uitsig High School was among those that could not wait to resume the school year.
Uitsig High School spokesperson Manda Bester said they were ready to welcome back their learners when the school received news of the postponement on Sunday evening.
Last week the school shared an informative step-by-step video with the school’s protocols and procedures learners needed to follow to go back to school.
“The premises have been sanitised and disinfected and we have our Covid-19 compliance committee and risk assessment team in place,” Bester said.
Bester said although the school would not re-open on Monday as planned, staff would discuss the curriculum and other issues at the committee meeting.
READ MORE: Moot schools disappointed as school reopening rescheduled
Other schools in the area also shared their disappointment on various newsletters and social media pages about the postponement of the re-opening.
“It is with great sadness and disappointment we must inform you that the school cannot open tomorrow as planned,” messaged Rooihuiskraal Primary School principal Ferdie Maree.
“We looked forward to welcoming the grade 7s and will communicate with you as soon as we receive new information.”
Late Sunday evening, the council of education ministry (CEM) met to assess the state of readiness for the re-opening of schools.
“CEM received a report from service providers coordinated by the national education collaboration trust on the external evaluation and monitoring of the state of readiness. Rand Water, as an implementing agent delivering water to 3 500 schools, also presented its report. The heads of education departments committee (Hedcom) also presented its technical report,” said the department’s spokesperson Elijah Mhlangain in a press release on 31 May.
“All the reports agreed that a substantial number of schools would not be ready for re-opening tomorrow, albeit tremendous progress had been made by most provinces, which overall reflected an 80% state of readiness.”
In the press release the CEM expressed its concern that learners in some provinces have not yet received any personal protective equipment and that some schools were not yet ready.
The re-opening has been moved to next week Monday, 8 June.
READ MORE: Unions reject staggered re-opening of schools
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
