NYAKALLO TEFU|

The Department of Health said on Tuesday that anyone who cannot get their vaccination due to the ongoing protests in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal can schedule it for another day.

This is because of violent protests in both provinces where citizens are looting shops, damaging public property and closing roads.

The Department of Basic Education last week announced that the vaccination drive for educators across the country would be extended to Wednesday, 14 July.

“The extension will enable the sector to vaccinate more people but also to mop up where some sites experienced some technical challenges resulting in delays,” said Minister Angie Motshekga.

The vaccination drive for educators started on 23 June 2021.

READ: Teacher vaccination programme extended

The minister said in the past few days, they have seen an increase in the number of educators wanting to be vaccinated.

The Department of Health said the vaccination drive of educators will not be affected currently due to the protests happening.

“Anyone who had been scheduled to be vaccinated at sites in districts or areas that are affected by the unrest are advised to defer their vaccination,” said National Health Department Spokesperson, Popo Maja.

Maja said if it is not clear whether an area has been affected, the public is advised to contact the vaccination site to which they have been scheduled before proceeding to the site for the administration of vaccines.

“The Department will publicise a list of affected areas and sites as soon as it is available,” said Maja.

Adding that the Electronic Vaccine Data System will automatically reschedule appointments for those unable to attend. Maja said the system is programmed to rescheduled up to two missed appointments.

Minister Motshekga said they have been monitoring vaccination sites across the country.

“We did so because we appreciate the fact that we were prioritised and we really wanted everybody who qualifies to be vaccinated,” said Motshekga.

READ: DBE minister addresses vaccine hesitancy

The department of health said some pharmacies and medical centres have been looted and stock has been stolen.

“The public is warned not to buy any medicines offered for sale by anyone other than registered medical practitioners, pharmacies or hospitals,” said Maja.

Wednesday 14 July is the last day for teachers across the country to receive their vaccine.

“The extension of the programme will also allow those who had missed the opportunity to get jabs initially to be vaccinated,” said Motshekga.

So far, the number of teachers vaccinated stands at 437388, out of 582 564 educators and staff who are yet to be vaccinated.

When the vaccination drive commenced for educators, 300 000 doses were allocated to be administered over a period of 10-days.

More vaccines were then delivered to the country as 582 000 educators were to be vaccinated.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has called on all teachers in the sector to participate in the National Teaching Awards happening later this year.

The awards were established in 2000 to recognise, celebrate and acknowledge the strides made by teachers to ensure that learners are supported in order to progress from grade to grade.

The competition is open to all teachers in the public schooling sector registered in terms of the South African Schools Act.

The awards are aimed at motivating teachers to continue the selfless endeavours they make for the benefit of the country.

“The work of teachers have now been further complicated by the emergence of the Coronavirus which has disrupted the schooling sector in a manner never seen before,” said DBE Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.

Mhlanga said as a result of the extra-ordinary efforts made by teachers under extreme conditions the department has introduced new awards to pay homage to individuals who have demonstrated commitment, dedication, and sacrifice during crisis situations.

To this end new categories have been added and they are the National Best Teacher Award, S/Hero Award and Learner Award.

He said other categories are Lifetime Achievement Award, National Learner Award, Excellence in Maths teaching, Grade R teaching, Special Needs, Primary school teaching and Secondary School teaching etc.

The closing date for entries is 31 July 2021.

Adding that because the awards will be conducted during a period when the country is confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic, the department will have to conduct activities in adherence to the Covid-19 protocols.

PETER RULE|

The teacher stands in front of her Grade 4 class. The 45 nine and ten-year olds are crammed together at desks, huddled over shared books. Some are sitting on the floor. “Now, class, read from the top of the page,” the teacher says. They comply in a slow sing-song drawl.

“Stop,” says the teacher. “It is not ‘Wed-nes-day’, you say it ‘Wensday’. It is what?” “Wensday,” the class responds. “Again.” “Wensday.” The reading resumes, the teacher frequently stopping to correct her pupils’ pronunciation.

Sometimes the children read aloud in groups. At other times, she calls a child to come to the front and read aloud. Not once does she ask a question about what the story means. Nor do the children discuss or write about what they have read.

This is the typical approach to how reading is taught in most South African primary schools. Reading is largely understood as an oral performance. In our research, my colleague Sandra Land and I describe this as “oratorical reading”. The emphasis is on reading aloud, fluency, accuracy and correct pronunciation. There is very little emphasis on reading comprehension and actually making sense of the written word. If you were to stop the children and ask them what the story is about, many would look at you blankly.

Pronunciation, accuracy and fluency are important in reading. But they have no value without comprehension. Countries around the world are paying increasing attention to reading comprehension, as indicated by improving results in international literacy tests.

The problem with the oratorical reading approach is evident in the results of the recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 tests. PIRLS’ purpose is to assess reading comprehension and to monitor trends in literacy at five-year intervals. Countries participate voluntarily. Learners write the test in the language of learning and teaching used in Grades 1 to 3 in their school.

The tests revealed that 78% of grade 4 pupils in South Africa fell below the lowest level on the PIRLS scale: meaning, in effect, that they cannot understand what they’re reading. There was some improvement from learners writing in Sesotho, isiNdebele, Xitsonga, Tshivenda and Sepedi from a very low base in 2011, but no overall improvement in South Africa’s performance.

South Africa was last out of 50 countries surveyed. It came in just behind Egypt and Morocco. The Russian Federation came first followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland.

South Africa also performs poorly in the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality surveys. These show that in reading and numeracy South Africa is lagging behind much poorer African countries such as Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Our research on reading at a rural primary school and an adult centre in the KwaZulu-Natal province showed that the oratorical approach to teaching reading was dominant both in the school and adult classes. Both adults and children were not learning to read with meaning, and so were not achieving literacy despite attending classes. Our findings confirmed the results of other South African studies.

So where does the problem lie and how can South Africa address it?

Rote learning

To understand the situation more deeply we interviewed teachers and explored how they had learned to read. We found that they teach as they were taught; an indication that oratorical reading is a cycle repeated from one generation to the next unless it is broken.

Teachers told us they assessed pupils’ reading ability just as they were assessed by their teachers: by having them read aloud. Marks were allocated for individual oral reading performance. This was based not on understanding the passage, but on fluency and pronunciation. There was no written assessment of reading comprehension. Reading was about memorising sounds and decoding words.

This suggests that the problem in learners’ performance lies in how reading is taught in most South African schools. Learners are taught to read aloud and pronounce correctly, but not to understand the written word and make sense of it for themselves. Another consequence is that the pleasure and joy of discovery and meaning-making are divorced from school reading.

New approaches

There are no quick fixes, but there certainly are slow and sure ones. The first is to get reading education in pre-service teacher training right. A report by JET Education Services, an independent non-profit organisation that works to improve education, found that universities don’t give enough attention to reading pedagogies.

Universities need to teach reading as a process that involves decoding and understanding text in its context, not just as a “mechanical skill”. Countries such as India, with its great diversity and disadvantaged populations, have begun to address the need for this change in how reading is taught.

The second “fix” concerns in-service training. The Department of Basic Education has a crucial role to play here. Teachers need to reflect on how they themselves were taught to read and to understand the shortcomings of an oratorical approach.

Effective reading instruction, such as the “Read to Learn” and “scaffolding” approaches, should be modelled and reinforced. In a multi-lingual African context, strategies that allow teachers and learners to use all their language resources in making meaning should be encouraged. Teachers’ own reading is vital, and can be developed through book clubs and reading groups.

The school environment is also crucial. According to the PIRLS interviews with principals, 62% of South African primary schools do not have school libraries. These are central to promoting a reading culture, as work in New Zealand shows.

Schools should develop strategies such as Drop Everything and Read slots in the timetable, library corners in classrooms, prizes for reading a target number of books and writing about them, and creating learners’ reading clubs. Learners can draw on local oral traditions by gathering stories from elders, writing them and reading them to others.

Finally, the home environment is vital. The PIRLS research showed that children with parents who read, and especially read to them, do better at reading. Our research found that children with parents who attended adult classes were highly motivated to learn and read with their parents. Even if parents are illiterate, older siblings can read to younger children. The Family Literacy Project, a non-profit organisation in KwaZulu-Natal, has done excellent work in creating literate family and community environments in deep rural areas, showing what is possible.

Developing families as reading assets rather than viewing them as deficits can help to strengthen schools and build a reading nation.

Peter Rule is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Higher and Adult Education at Stellenbosch University

The University of Pretoria (UP) this month made history with an unprecedented 100% pass rate in the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) April Initial Test of Competence (ITC) results.

UP obtained a 100% pass rate in the SAICA ITC exam for first-time writers and an overall pass rate of 99.4% for all candidates.

These historically exceptional results place the university in first place in South Africa.

Head of Department of Accounting and the Chartered Accountancy Programme Coordinator Professor Madeleine Stiglingh said not only did the number of African black candidates from UP increase but for the first time ever, the pass rate for our African black, coloured and Indian students is an unprecedented 100%.

“It is higher than the pass rate of the white candidates at 99%,” said Stiglingh.

Stiglingh said the number of African black candidates increased by 7% while the pass rate increased from 86% in 2020 to 100% in 2021.

SAICA administers two professional exams per year and the results of the first of the ITC exams were recently released.

Stiglingh said the university’s pass rate is not only substantially higher but that UP has achieved the highest pass rate in the country for our African black candidates.

According to SAICA, the national pass rate for all African black candidates is 52%.

A total of 3 887 (2020 – 3 657) candidates wrote the April 2021 ITC, of which 2 507 (2020 – 2 149) passed. UP contributed 174 candidates to the April 2021 ITC.

UP’s first-time pass rate averages at 94% over a period of 15 years, making it one of the most consistent among the country’s universities.

The Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Professor Elsabé Loots, commended Professor Johan Oberholster, the 2020 CA Coordinator, the Heads of the four academic departments in the faculty and all the lecturing staff on this stellar achievement.

“We are extremely proud of the performance of our students in the latest ITC results that clearly demonstrate that UP continues to be one of the leaders in the education of chartered accountants,” said Loots.

Professor Tawana Kupe, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of UP, congratulated the students.

Kupe said UP is delighted with this pass rate.

“Our students achieved an amazing pass rate in the midst of a pandemic. You have shown resilience and tenacity,” he said.

Aune Angobe was born in Ongongo village in the Omusati region in Namibia. She was raised by her grandparents who have now both passed away.

Angobe studied at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and will graduate with her Master of Science in Molecular and Cell Biology cum laude on 19 July – achieving over 95% for her course. 

“I was privileged to have grandparents who knew the value of education. I attended primary and secondary school in the northern part of the country under their tender care.

“Throughout my schooling journey I’d always enjoyed science subjects, and I have no doubt that I was a scientist from birth,” said Angobe.

Adding that despite her poor family background, she studied hard and matriculated with good grades.

In 2013, Angobe was granted admission to the University of Namibia for an honour’s degree programme in microbiology. She was funded by a government loan.

Growing up in rural Namibia, Angobe had never used a computer before she enrolled at university.

Even prior to her master’s studies at UCT, she said she had never travelled south of Windhoek.

READ: UCT’s Executive MBA programme is still number one in Africa

“Excitingly, I got news of admission to UCT from Associate Professor Inga Hitzeroth, a potential project supervisor for my MSc in Molecular and Cell Biology.

“My MSc research focused on developing a plant‑made diagnostic reagent for the detection of Porcine circovirus (PCV) antibodies in South African swine herds,” she said.

Angobe said she chose this focus specifically because pigs are a main contributor to the economy, especially in Southern Africa.

She said for years, pork production has been facing significant losses because of PCV.

Angobe added that her study aimed at producing a cheaper diagnostic reagent for use in a rapid diagnostic kit, which will potentially help local farmers to diagnose their pigs earlier.

South African institutions consistently make up the majority of all those “best universities in Africa” lists. South Africa is the economic hub of the African continent. International students choosing to study in South Africa will have a number of social and academic opportunities wherever they study in the country and most local universities have active international academic offices.

But there were challenges.

READ: Nzimande on student debt, financial exclusions and infrastructure backlogs

Angobe said one of her biggest challenges was funding.

She said she remembered clearly that when she arrived in Cape Town,  she did not have funds to cater for her accommodation and living expenses.

She only had R500.

“I was accommodated by a friend in a residence where I stayed for about two weeks. During this period, my supervisor, my friend and I were constantly worried about how I was going to survive.

“We then decided to approach Student Housing.

“I went there and cried my lungs out to them. I clearly remember the officer asking me how I had left Namibia without knowing where I was going to stay,” she said.

“My response was, ‘I don’t know, but I just want to study’,” she said.

Adding that Student Housing eventually granted her accommodation.

Angobe said soon after this, her supervisor introduced her to the Aunt Vivien of the Cohen Scholarship Trust.

She said another challenge in addition to funding was being in a foreign country.

“It was not an easy transition. I always felt like an outsider, and I struggled to overcome the language barrier.

“Also being far from my support system, especially my family and friends, I really felt the gap,” she said.

However, she said she also found a way to create a support system away from home and that the Biopharming Research Unit became her family.

“They all played an important role in my achievement, and I am thankful to all of them.

“I would like to thank the Biopharming Research Unit, the Poliomyelitis Research Foundation, the Sam Cohen Scholarship Trust, and the MCB department for financial assistance towards my studies,” she said.

TSHEPISO MAMETELA|

Zimbabwe Women Sables are looking for an industrious start to the 2021 Africa Cup Challenge as they romp up preparations ahead of the scheduled tournament, which takes place in Uganda from 11 to 19 July.

The southern African country has assembled a strong squad and have gathered in the capital, Harare, where a training camp has been organised.

The Women Sables closed out an important friendly warm-up series against fellow-continental contenders Zambia, recently, as the two countries fought it out in the curtain-raising ‘Battle of Zambezi’.

Not merely looking to make up the numbers at the upcoming tournament, the Women Sables has called up a number of emerging talents in the country and abroad, one of which is Tadiwanashe Kwete, a versatile prop/ hooker who plies her trade running out for the Wits University Women’s rugby first team.

The first-year Bachelor of Laws (LLB) student is set to be an integral part of her home nation’s pursuit of glory on the African safari, with the 21-year-old every bit as intent on making a notable impression in national team colours.

“It’s an honour to be recognised and to get the call-up, especially being out of the country,” Kwete told Wits Sport. “I am elated by the call-up [although] I did not expect it … there is new blood coming in and showing off what they can do.

“I felt proud watching them play [in the series against Zambia] but now I am overly excited to be joining them in camp.” The invitation is a testament to hard work, which Kwete believes she was able to put in all throughout training, so far, this year.

The devastating player scores her second senior national team call-up; first featuring for Zimbabwe’s Under-20 side in 2019 in a bilateral series against South Africa before making her senior team debut against Zambia in Lusaka that same year.

“I am looking at bagging more caps and playing my best rugby. I am excited to be joining the ladies in camp and I know it is going be a very technical and clinical camp where we work through our processes,” added a focused Kwete.

“Having played for Wits and learning a few things here, I really want to use that to better my play while also imparting what I have learned here to them, and vice versa.

“At the end of the day, we all understand that it is an uphill task facing Uganda considering the fact that there hasn’t been any rugby in Zimbabwe for close to two years now, because of the pandemic, but exciting times ahead.”

Wits Rugby’s Ferdinand Kelly said the rugby office couldn’t be prouder as Kwete’s beckoning on the continental stage demonstrates a sturdy women’s rugby programme at the institution.

Kelly lauded the strides made by the University to develop a high-performance women’s rugby programme in which female student-athletes can excel.

“We are immensely proud of Tadiwanashe’s achievement. It is purely a result of her commitment to the sport and the hard work she has put in … Our women’s programme is a work in progress and we are gradually making quality strides in the right direction,” the sports officer conceded.

“Earlier this month, Sibongile Mdaki was invited to join the provincial Golden Lions Ladies team, and now, Tadiwanashe has been called up for national duty. The measure of any productive rugby programme is [its ability to] produce provincial or national team players,” he added.

“It is an indication that our coaches and management are doing something correctly and that the program is in good stead. However, it becomes immensely important to make athletes aware of their academic responsibility and to find the balance between sport and their studies.”

A team of three Rhodes University students and two external collaborators have won first prize at the recently concluded nationwide Hackathon challenge.

The two-day challenge was organised by the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).

Dr Patrice Okouma, Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics Lecturer said when the Rhodes Artificial Intelligence Group hosted by the Mathematics Department was made aware of the challenge, they realised that it offered a unique opportunity for strengthening teamwork among some of our students.

He said three graduate students in the Mathematics Department accepted the challenge to compete.

“They are Irene Nandutu, Nicole Oyetunji and Kamvalethu Vanqa. Vanqa who have a joint affiliation with the Radio Astronomy Techniques and Technology in the Physics & Electronics Department.

“Nandutu is a Ph.D student who has considerable experience in building communities, Vanqa is an MSc student who has won a number of prizes and awards and Oyetunji is an MSc student and team leader,” said Okouma.

Adding that as per the design of the competition, the team had two external collaborators: “Professor Oleg Smirnov as well as Dr Marcellin Atemkeng and Dr Patrice Okouma are the students’ supervisors,” said Okouma.

A Hackathon is an event, usually hosted by a tech company or organization, where programmers get together for a short period of time to collaborate on a project. The participants work rapidly to achieve their task, as the events generally only last 24 hours or take place over a weekend.

The Rhodes University team won R5000 and a sponsored two-day tour of the Western Cape’s top space facilities, including the SANSA Hermanus campus. 

The win also includes flights, food, and accommodation.

Okouma said the win re-asserts the fact that Rhodes University has talented students with an inspiring willingness to contribute towards alleviating some of our practical problems.

He said as the university strives to strengthen a fertile environment for its students’ creativity to blossom.

Oyetunji said maths is a very male-dominated area, which can be intimidating, but I hope this win by two female leads encourage any girls out there that have an interest in science and to know that they are capable of achieving great things,” said the 24-year-old.

Adding that while academia is important, there are misconceptions about real-world maths application not extending beyond teaching.

“While teaching is an extremely important profession, there are other career paths for mathematicians who wish to be active in science,” said Oyentuji.

The Basic Education Sector vaccination programme deadline has been extended to Wednesday, 14 July.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the extension became necessary when additional doses for basic education personnel became available.

“The extension will enable the sector to vaccinate more people but also to mop up where some sites experienced some technical challenges resulting in delays,” said Motshekga.

Adding that the sector has also seen a strong demand for the vaccines in recent days.

“Provinces reported that more and more people were coming forward wanting to be vaccinated. More than 200 000 more people have been added to the list of staff to get vaccinated,” she said.

On Thursday Inside Education reported that the national basic education department requested an extension to its vaccination programme.

READ: DBE requests extension for education sector vaccination programme

According to the Department of Health, 437388 out of 582 564 educators and staff have now been vaccinated in the sector since rollout began.

“But we have now loaded 789,554 including food handlers, janitors, and support staff from independent schools and ECD centres located within school premises on the on the Electronic Vaccination Data System,” said the minister.

The department started its national vaccination programme on 23 June.

At the time, Motshekga said those who had tested positive for Covid-19 and people who took the flu jab, would not get vaccinated.

According to the department, the education sector was initially allocated 300 000 doses to be administered over a period of 10-days.

“In the past two weeks we have visited different provinces, where we monitored the progress of the vaccination programme.

“We did so because we appreciate the fact that we were prioritised and we really wanted everybody who qualifies to be vaccinated,” said Motshekga.

She said getting the vaccine will protect those in the education sector from severe illness, hospitalization and death from Covid-19.

READ: DBE minister addresses vaccine hesitancy

“When you are vaccinated, your immune system will recognize the virus quickly when you get infected with Covid-19 and prevents you from being severely ill or dying,” she said.

The minister said there continues to be discrepancies between people who are submitted and those who appear on the Electronic Vaccination Data System.

“Nationally, names appear on the database but there is a problem at the sites when people get there to get their vaccinated,” said Motshekga.

She added that her department has received reports of people having been turned away and some do not return as a result because they travel long distances to reach the sites.

She said another issue that has come to the department’s attention is that provinces have informed educators in independent schools and School-Governing-Body-appointed personnel not to go to sites until they are sure that they appear on the Electronic Vaccination Data System.

“This has slowed down the number of people turning up at the sites in this category,” she said.

Motshekga said the extension of the programme would allow those who had missed the opportunity to get jabs initially to be vaccinated.

About 650 000 to 750 000 children aged seven to 17 years old were not attending school by May this year, compared to the average 400,000 – 500,000 number before the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is according to the National Income Dynamics Study — Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) released on Thursday.

Nompumelelo Mohohlwane, co-author of the study and researcher at the Department of Basic Education (DBE) said since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, children have been put at greater risk of dropping out of school.

Moholwane said as a result of the pandemic, children are lagging behind at school and have lost many learning hours.

Adding that the pandemic has also led to increased food insecurity and emotional health deterioration.

READ: DBE to be taken to court for failing to provide meals to learners

Debra Shepherd, co-author of the study and senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University said the study estimates that between March 2020 and June 2021 most primary school learners in South Africa lost 70% to a full year of learning.

“Between February 15 and 30 June 2021, schools were open for a total of 93 days.

“Assuming that learners would have received in-person instruction for half of these days and taking our previous estimate of 50-75% of a year of learning lost for each 120 days of schooling lost, we estimate that as much as a full year of learning has been potentially lost by the majority of learners since March 2020,” said Shepherd.

Mohohlwane added that the disruptions to the school year caused by the pandemic have played a major role in children not returning to school. She said this is because children have had to learn from home for certain periods of time due to national Covid-19 precautionary measures. 

Mohohlwane said the lowest return to schools was observed in the Free State (87%) and Eastern Cape (92%).

She said the highest number of dropouts are Grade 8 and 9 learners, followed by the Further Education and Training (FET) phase (Grade 10-12), and then the foundation phase.

Prior to the Covid-19 school closures, South Africa, like most developing countries, had achieved near universal school enrolment.

The Covid-19 pandemic led governments to enforce various restrictions to economic and social activities. One of the sectors that has been the most affected since the onset of the health emergency has been pre-primary, primary, and secondary education.

Research shows that more than a year after the World Health Organisation (WHO) proclaimed the outbreak of Covid-19 a pandemic, many learners continue to experience either partial or complete school closures.

READ: DBE Portfolio Committee supports return to class full-time for primary and special education learners

In November 2020, when asked about the attendance of young people living in their household, approximately 95% of adults reported that all learners in their household had recently attended school.

Research shows that this number has declined to 90% in April 2021.

“That is, as many as 750,000 children may now not be attending school.

“We can therefore conclude that disruptions in schooling have contributed to significant reductions in school enrolment,” said Mohohlwane.

She added that a decline in the attendance rate amongst this age group (7 to 17) fell from 98% to 94.2%.

Most households also reported that at least one learner had not returned to school in 2021.

Merle Mansfield, programme director of the Zero Dropout Campaign said despite South Africa’s large investment in basic education, around 40% of Grade one learners will exit the schooling system before finishing matric. Many will remain stuck in poverty and unemployment for life, she said. 

In response to the increasing number of learner dropout rates during the pandemic, the Zero Dropout Campaign said the government needs to implement an effective catch-up plan for learners.

Mansfield said before the pandemic, schooling was already characterised by too little learning, high levels of inequality, and regular disruption.

“Now, more than ever, we need a national, comprehensive response to school dropout that includes a national catch-up strategy attuned to the diverse needs of learners.

“We need to meet learners at their level and respond to their needs. Where possible, plans to recover lost learning, through accelerated catch-up programmes, should be tailored to learners’ needs, rather than their age or grade,” said Mansfield.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday announced that schools will remain closed until 26 July.

During his statement on the progress in the national effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, Ramaphosa said cabinet followed scientific advice provided by the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Covid-19 and deliberations of the National Coronavirus Command Council.

“After consultation with the provinces, we decided to maintain the country at Adjusted Alert Level 4 for another 14 days.

“These measures were urgent, and they were absolutely necessary to contain the third wave, which is being fuelled by the new Delta variant. 

“It remains our priority to break the chain of transmission by limiting social contact,” said Ramaphosa.

In response, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, said “President Cyril Ramaphosa in his own words”.

Earlier in the week, Mhlanga said schools were still set to open as initially planned.

READ: Schools on track to open even with rising Covid-19 infections

The spokesperson added that the department had received advice from the Ministerial Advisory Committee that schools can still open on 19 July.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said it will be devastating if the country’s schools are not allowed to reopen on 19 July as planned.

Motshekga said the education sector has already lost significant time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which will have long-term ramifications.

She said her department plans to open on 19 July as gazetted but, “we will not be irresponsible if there are still difficulties by the time we want to open and bring more learners”.

Mhlanga said the call for schools not to open is an irresponsible call and that the education sector cannot afford to lose another school year.

READ: It will be “devastating” if schools don’t open on 19 July – says Motshekga

But on Sunday, Ramaphosa told the nation that when he last addressed citizens [on 27 June], he indicated that government would assess the situation after 14 days and determine what further adjustments may be required. 

“As things stand now, infections remain extremely high. 

“With the fast-spreading Delta variant, we are experiencing a third wave that is more severe than the first and second waves. 

“For the last two weeks, the country has consistently recorded an average of nearly 20,000 daily new cases. At present, the country has over 200,000 active Covid-19 cases,” said Ramaphosa.

Adding that in the last two weeks over 4,200 South Africans have lost their lives to Covid-19.

Some teacher unions have consistently said schools should not open before July 26.

Ben Machipi, secretary of the Professional Educators’ Union (PEU) previously said that PEU is not in support of schools opening on 19.

“We should first observe the impact of the 14-day alert level 4 lockdown on infections before determining when must school reopen,” Machipi said.

Inside Education previously reported that Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of SA, said the date for the reopening of schools left them a bit uncomfortable.

“We believe that we should keep the reopening of the schools on the 26 of July because we don’t know if the whole country will have passed the third wave. There are provinces that are far behind in the peak, and we don’t want to see continuous changes on the school calendar.

READ: Unions welcome the closure of schools

“The president closed schools, but we should keep the holidays as they are,” he said.

Kabelo Mahlobogwane, Educators Union of SA spokesperson, also said the reopening of schools must be guided by the third wave. 

“Right now, the focus is to save lives and that is what we will entertain,” he said.