Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has announced that pupils in Grades 12 and 7 are expected to return to school on June 1.
"When we say Grade 7s have to come, they will have the whole school to themselves and they will only face the other grades when the time comes for those to return to school," Motshekga said. She did not specify when the next group of learners will be allowed to return to school.
Senior education officials will return to work on May 4 to start putting in place all the necessary interventions that wil allow teachers to return to school from May 18, Motshekga said.
Minister Motshekga says School Management Teams should return to work on the 11th May 2020 to prepare the schools prior to return of learners. Teachers return to work on 18 May 2020 & then Grade 12 and 7 learners go back to school on 1 June 2020 #BasicEducation
— GCIS Media Liaison (@GCISMedia) April 30, 2020
The proposed changes to the school calendar will be gazetted once all consulations have taken place.
The minister stressed that the resumption of lessons for the 12.4 million pupils enrolled at schools across the country will be done on a phased basis, based on scientific considerations.
"As a sector, since we closed schools at the end of March we have had almost 50 consultations with stakeholders," Motshekga said. "In all these consultations, the principle of opening schools at the right time was accepted. Once all the conditions were met."
Among the conditions Motshekga mentioned was the provision of face masks for all educators and pupils.
Due to the national lockdown, pupils have not been able to do mid-year examination, and these will now be combined with the year-end exams. This includes candidates who would have re-written senior certificate subjects in June.
"The examinations which was supposed to start in May will be merged with the November exams," Motshekga said.
She stressed that the department has developed guidelines for dealing with Covid-19 in schools, based on input received ffrom the national health department.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/BasicEducation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BasicEducation
— GCIS Media Liaison (@GCISMedia)
The Standard Operating Procedures will provide guidelines for all administrators on the steps to be undertaken in order to prevent the spread, and manage cases of Covid-19, including:
- Role of childcare facilities and schools in responding to Covid-19;
- Management of Covid-19 cases in a childcare facility or school;
- Guidelines for Heads of Departments and Supervisors on Covid-19 – procedures regarding employees;
- Management and monitoring of absenteeism is schools;
- Management of learner transport measures;
- Closure of a unit / component / office / department, if an employee tested positive for COVID-19; and
- How to clean educational establishments, where there were learners, staff members, or others, with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The department's plans for social distancing include:
- Physical distancing in classrooms, includes not more than 2 learners sharing desks;
- No hugging or handshaking;
- Direct contact must be avoided;
- Cloth masks to be worn by learners and teachers at all times;
Sports matches, choral practices and festivals, eisteddfods are not permitted; and extra classes should be arranged in small groups that maintain social distancing, Motshekga said.
Measures pertaining to infrastructure and furniture:
- Sanitize classrooms prior to the start of school day;
- sanitize hands on entering of classrooms;
- Limit movement of learners between classes; and
- No clustering of desks in classrooms.
Transport
- Working with the Department of Transport to ensure that buses are sanitized prior to start of all trips;
- Everybody to sanitize hands on entering of the buses;
- The distance between learners in the buses must be managed; and
- The wearing of masks throughout the school day, starting before boarding transport, is compulsory.
Minister Motshekga says school fees are payable and urge all parents to continue paying school fees. She says if you cannot pay, because your circumstances have changed due to #COVID19 implications,please inform the school #BasicEducation
— GCIS Media Liaison (@GCISMedia) April 30, 2020
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** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999 or visit sacoronavirus.co.za