Schools to reopen on 19 July

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says public schools will reopen on 19 July after President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that winter holidays would be brought forward.

Schools are expected to start closing from tomorrow due to the third wave of Covid-19 infections.

All schools, including private institutions, will be expected to be closed by the end of the week.

“By Wednesday, that’s the last day for pupils to be in schools. So, teaching will stop on Wednesday,” Motshekga said. “Then we will use Thursday and Friday for teachers and managers to close the schools properly.”

The minister was speaking at Seemahale Secondary School in Botshabelo, Free State, where she was giving an update on her department’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Motshekga said the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) had met yesterday to deliberate on the move to level 4 lockdown, which is set to last for 14 days.

She appealed to parents to make arrangements for pupils in boarding facilities and those with special education needs to be collected by Friday.

“If you have a child who is somewhere in the Western Cape at a special school, please make arrangements that at the latest, if not by Wednesday, by Friday at 12.30pm there should be no [pupil] in our hostels and any of our facilities.”

Motshekga said schools should make arrangements for the remaining three days for pupils who are beneficiaries of the national school nutrition programme to continue to receive their meals.

The Covid-19 vaccination programme for teachers and school staff would continue until 8 July.

So far, more than 200 000 school staff in the country have been vaccinated, with the Free State expected to have completed its vaccine programme on Friday.

“The announcement that schools close on Friday doesn’t mean our vaccination programme stops on Friday. Teachers should come as scheduled,” she said.

Motshekga said the CEM had agreed the winter vacation catchup programme for pupils in Grades 11 and 12 would go ahead under strict Covid-19 health and safety protocols.

“Unfortunately, some of these camps are residential camps. So, we are requesting provinces to cancel all residential camps because they can be superspreaders,” she said.

The minister said there were pupils still writing their supplementary exams and they would continue.

“And because they’re very few, they normally would not exceed 50 [pupils] per room. Supplementary exams continue and the marking will continue.”