Teachers and schoolkids are up in arms as their December holiday is to be cut by half, from six to three weeks, this year.
Teachers said they just had to accept the Basic Education Department’s decision, which was made final last Thursday.
Schools will close on Wednesday, 12 December, for pupils, and on Friday, 14 December, for teachers.
Schools will re-open on Monday, 7 January for teachers and on Wednesday, 9 January, for pupils.
This means pupils will have 16 working days off, excluding public holidays, and teachers just 12 days off before returning to the klaskamers in January.
However, education authorities say this was not unfair as the number of days teachers and pupils spent at schools are the same as in previous years.
Last year learners spent 197 days at school, compared to 199 this year.
Bheki Shandu, deputy secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union, said teachers had already made holiday plans and would now be forced to cut them short.
“The department announced this year that adjustments would be made to the school calendar and, as a result, the holidays would be shortened. It seems like there is nothing we can do about it now,” he said.
The Basic Education Department said it needed to create time to process matric results.
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) said only nine out of over 1500 schools in the province are allowed to close early as they have been selected as official NSC Marking Centres.
“If any schools have issued letters indicating that they are closing earlier than 12 December 2018 then they are acting illegally,” said WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond.