It’s back to school for some on 1 June

The department of basic education may only be able to start phasing in pupils in Grade 7 and 12 from 1 June, according to Minister Angie Motshekga.

Motshekga and her higher education counterpart, Blade Nzimande, on Thursday outlined plans to ensure education resumed as the country continued to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

But the return to school for those in Grades 7 and 12 from June would depend on the department’s plans to ensure that schools are safe and Covid-19 compliant.

The department plans to have personal protective equipment delivered to all schools.

Schools will be deep-cleaned and the department will ensure that all necessary support is provided for teachers, nonteaching staff and pupils.

Motshekga said parents were concerned that pupils would be returning to schools from May, but that would not be the case.

The department had decided to postpone the May/June National Senior Certificate rewrite examinations and they would now merge with the November/ December exams.

This would result in more than a million candidates sitting for final exams at the end of the year.

The department could not complete its preparations for the exams due to the lockdown.

Preparations include the printing and distribution of papers, the appointment of invigilators, and assessment of the general readiness in marking centres.

Motshekga stressed that the department would need to make sure it was aligned to the risk-adjusted plans. It also had to take into account the epicentres of the virus.

Based on all the work the department still needed to do, it was proposed that office-based staff return to work on Monday, in line with a directive from the department of public service and administration, Motshekga said.

Staff would ensure that all the groundwork was done to ensure schools were ready in all provinces.

Once that was done, the school management teams would return from 11 May to prepare for the return of the pupils.

Teachers would then be expected to return on 18 May, followed by the Grade 7s and 12s on 1 June.

Motshekga emphasised that once the administrative work was completed, the school calendar would be gazetted.

The suggested dates were only a “proposal” and subject to possible changes.

Speaking about private schools, Motshekga said the department had also consulted with schools and expected them to only operate if Covid-19 compliant.

She said it would depend on the schools whether they wanted to open during Level 4 or Level 3 of the lockdown, adding that this would be on condition that it accommodated the acceptable number of pupils.

The minister urged parents, who had children attending fee-paying schools to pay because the fees were needed to pay staff employed by the school governing body.

She urged parents to make alternative arrangements with schools, should they be unable to pay. – News24 Wire