GAUTENG. – “We opened the 2021 school calendar on 15 February 2021 with many uncertainties which were brought about by the new normal of delivering quality education during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Many parents were not sure whether they should allow their children back to school. Lesufi thanked all parents for heeding the call to bring their kids back to school.

Lesufi said he was grateful to all stakeholders including the School Governing Bodies (SGB), Unions and the learners.

Some of the highlights in the past three months include the completion of online placements; the reactivation of the paperless classroom programme and the distribution of mobile classrooms to manage overcrowding.

“We are proud to declare that we have placed all Grade 1s and Grade 8s and plans for the 2022 online admissions are steaming ahead. We call on any parent whose child is still not placed in a school to urgently contact our District Offices for assistance.

“Our goal of ensuring that the majority of children are not forced to travel long distances to access good education is steaming ahead as we continue to open and hand-over quality new schools within poor communities.

”During Term 1 of the academic year,  three new schools were opened and are now in full use and occupied.

“The successful conclusion of Term 1 has emboldened our resolve to deliver quality education to all learners in our province, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We support the initiative by the Minister of Basic Education, Mme Angie Motshekga, to consider bringing back all primary school learners in Term 2 as we strongly believe that the current rotational system is disadvantaging learners.”