SCHOOL Principal Nkasana Matlapu, from the S.J van der Merwe Technical School in Limpopo has made it against all odds – going out of her way to make sure learners without cell phones and data were able to resume classes online despite daunting connectivity challenges.

Matlapu won the Woolworth & MySchool Shero award at the Annual National Teaching Awards event in Kempton Park, attended by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and President Cyril Ramaphosa, where teachers were praised for helping children despite facing their own challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matlapu was rewarded for her initiatives with the hero award.

The award-winning principal and her school received R75,000 as well as other donations from various corporate sponsors.

She looked for funders who could “adopt” children to look after their financial shortfalls and ensure they stayed in the system.

Her school, SJ Van der Merwe Technical School in Lebowakgomo, Limpopo,  said: “It is with great pleasure to announce to you former learners that that our energetic, young and visionary Principal, Nkasana Matlapu, was awarded, by the Limpopo MEC of Education, Position 1 in the Limpopo National Teachers Awards for Excellence in Secondary School Leadership. Nationals here we come! The Trust is proud of you mma and we are behind you.”

The Top National Teacher Award went to Mariette Wheeler from the Protea Heights Academy in the Western Cape for ensuring teachers stay engaged during online classes.

Thirty-eight teachers across the country in total have received awards, being recognised for their excellence during the trying COVID-19 pandemic.

* Inside Education

CYRIL ZANDA|

A RECENT court ruling ordering the South Africa’s largest university to restore a language associated with Apartheid as one of the languages of instruction has infuriated some black hardliners who view the move as an entrenchment of the “language of the oppressor” in the country.

On 22 September, South Africa’s Constitutional Court (ConCourt), the country’s top-most court ruled that the 2016 decision by the University of South Africa (Unisa) to drop Afrikaans as one of its languages of instruction was discriminatory and unconstitutional and, therefore, should be reversed.

The ruling brought both jubilation and anger to citizens of the “Rainbow Nation”, which is still trying to heal the deep scars of racial divisions entrenched by nearly half-a-century of Apartheid – a white supremacist rule.

Afrikaans, one of South Africa’s 11 official languages, is a creole language of Dutch origin which was developed by the colonialist Afrikaner white community – the same community that later introduced Apartheid in South Africa.

This is why the language still carries connotations of this hated rule, which was based on racial segregation. 

Following the end of Apartheid with the coming in of majority rule in 1994, some South African universities have buckled to pressure to drop the use of Afrikaans as the main language of instruction in favour of the more neutral English language. This move also aligned with the country’s Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions.

However, AfriForum, an Afrikaner group that fights to protect the interests of the ethnic group as well as stop reverse discrimination in South Africa, has over the years taken some of the country’s universities to court over their decisions to drop the use of Afrikaans.

With each side appealing rulings against it, the cases have reached the apex court, which, in this particular case, ruled that the language be restored because, according to the court’s assessment, its removal was discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.

In its decision, the court stated that Unisa had failed to demonstrate that it was not reasonably practicable to continue with Afrikaans as one of the languages of instruction.

The ConCourt concluded that it was a misconception that Afrikaans was only “the language of whites” and “the language of the oppressor,” as more black South Africans now speak Afrikaans as their first language.

The court held that it was open to Unisa bringing forth evidence to justify the phasing out of Afrikaans in the future, but it could not justify the limitation of the right to receive education in the language without clear and convincing proof.

AfriForum welcomed the judgment and said it was a huge victory for Afrikaans, Afrikaans-speaking students and language rights in South Africa in general.

“This marks the beginning of a new chapter in the empowerment of all who are not first-language speakers of English in tertiary education,” said Alana Baileyn, AfriForum’s head of cultural affairs.

But some black hardliners in South Africa, who are bent on erasing all traces of Apartheid, protested this court ruling, which they see as having the effect of perpetuating Apartheid by entrenching the “language of the oppressor” in South Africa.

The country’s belligerent opposition, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party, rejected the ConCourt’s decision to reinstate Afrikaans language as a learning and teaching medium at Unisa, arguing that the court ignored the linkage between race and language in the context of South Africa’s history.

“The selective choice of Afrikaans as a superior language perpetuates superiority over indigenous languages, and is an insult to the standing of Africans and their heritage of rich languages,” the party said in a statement.

“In the grace period to 2023 determined by the court, we call on Unisa to retrace its steps correctly and with lawful and procedural precision, do away with the 1976 language of national oppression, racial segregation, exclusion and supremacy,” the party added.

In 2018 and 2019 the ConCourt ruled against AfriForum and another lobby group in separate cases – against the University of Free State and Stellenbosch University respectively. In both cases, litigants sought to have Afrikaans restored as the primary language of instruction at these universities, and in both the court ruled that it was not “reasonably practicable” to maintain Afrikaans as a language of instruction.

These court rulings drew varied opinions from different people, some of whom pointed out that they were faulty.

In her opinion on the 2018 ruling in favour of the University of Free State, Rosemary Salomone, the Kenneth Wang Professor of Law at St John’s University School of Law in the United States, argued that the court had not done justice to “the competing interests that goes beyond a black/white racial binary.”

“Language has been a flashpoint in South African politics since the Afrikaner descendants of the early Dutch settlers forged a language-based national identity in opposition to British rule,” Professor Salomone wrote. “

The black population in turn embraced English as the language of resistance and redress against the horrors of Afrikaner apartheid.”

Professor Salomone went on to say that she hoped the public discussion surrounding the decision would give the court a broader understanding of the competing interests involved. 

“And hopefully it has given university officials pause to consider alternative programmatic and community building strategies that promote racial integration and relieve racial tension while remaining true to the country’s multilingual character and protecting the rights of all students to learn in the language of their choice.”

Asked if the latest ConCourt ruling was – in light of her previous views – the correct one, Professor Salomone told FairPlanet in an e-mail response that she agreed with the court’s ruling.

“Yes, I do believe the Court rightly decided the case,” said Professor Salomone, who has researched the three court cases over the past five years, the first two of which are covered at length in her upcoming book titled The Rise of English: Global Politics and the Power of Language (Oxford University Press, 2021). 

“The ruling is consistent with the Court’s decisions in Free State, where the parallel program had created racial tensions and segregation, and Stellenbosch, where instruction predominantly in Afrikaans had marginalised Black students,” Salomone said. “The Stellenbosch revised policy removed that dominance while maintaining some instruction in Afrikaans.” 

“UNISA, on the other hand, presented a unique set of facts in that it is a distance-learning institution where problems of racial segregation and marginalisation did not arise,” she added.

“Here the university failed to prove that maintaining both English and Afrikaans courses was not ‘reasonably practicable’ as required under Section 29(2) of the Constitution’s right to be educated in the official language of one’s choice. The Court also noted procedural problems within the University’s decision-making.”

In its reaction to the ruling, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said that it viewed this judgment as one that empowers the poor and marginalised Afrikaans speakers seeking access to higher education.

The commission pointed out that it was also cognisant of the fact that Afrikaans had been used in the past, by a minority, to subjugate and marginalise other South Africans. Accordingly, the language is still viewed with mixed feelings by many people within the country.

“However, in this democratic era we should reflect on our past with a deep lens and should seek to celebrate our diversity,” the SAHRC said. “Our Constitution makes provision for Afrikaans as an official language and enjoins the state to take reasonable measures to ensure that everyone receives education in a language of their choice.”

The imposition of Afrikaans on local African learners resulted in the 1976 Soweto Uprising, when over 20,000 South African black students took to the streets. 176 protesters were killed and over 4,000 were injured when the police opened fire on the protesting students.

Fairplanet.org

RAND Park High School has celebrated the recent achievements of their learner athletes following their call-up and performances at sports events outside of the school.

Three of the school’s learners recently featured in the South African National Equestrian Schools Associations Regional Finals (Sanesa) hosted at Kyalami Park Club. Erin Wainright, Tehya Kirtley Sayer and Kaitlyn Koevort faced off with the best riders as they represented Gauteng West. According to the school, many at the event were nervous as it was the first competition of its kind since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown, but their riders were able to put on an exceptional performance.

They were able to bring home six top-eight placings, with Kaitlyn winning the 70cm Equitation Class. Kaitlyn and Erin have been selected to represent the Gauteng Team at Sanesa Nationals to be held in early October. The school will also be represented at the upcoming South African inter-provincial netball championships which will be held in October. U18 wing defence Hannah Corry and U17 goalkeeper Tisani Mohajane will play for the Gauteng side.

The school wished the two well at the championships and said that their skills, commitment, agility, versatility and competitive spirit gave them the opportunity and that they have the potential to achieve much more at the tournament.

The school wished all those competing in October all the best and that they continue to fly the flag of the school high.

* Randburg Sun

WHILE the coronavirus pandemic has battered some industries, others have thrived despite the ongoing crisis, including technology and science.

In fact, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for jobs in math, science and technology will continue to surge over the next decade. 

Hiring in the computer and information technology fields has faster projected growth between 2020 and 2030 than all other fields.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that demand for these workers stems from companies’ “greater emphasis on cloud computing, the collection and storage of big data, and information security.” 

The coronavirus pandemic has expedited demand for other science and technology roles as well, including epidemiologists and information security analysts.

“The prevalence of remote work has created additional need for network security and operations support,” Megan Slabinski, the district president for global talent solutions at recruitment firm Robert Half, tells CNBC Make It.

Slabinski specializes in recruiting for technology positions. 

While demand for technology talent is high across all industries, Slabinski notes that health care, e-commerce, government and education have the most need.

“We’ve seen an enhanced amount of hiring for technology roles within these three industries as a result of the pandemic,” she notes.

“We’ve seen the emergence of telehealth and remote patient monitoring in health care, and with traditional retail stores closed or limiting their hours during the pandemic, companies had to think about selling their goods online and enhancing their web presence to capture revenue from people shopping online.”

Government and education entities, too, have been forced to update their technology infrastructure as employees and students had to work online. 

Even before the pandemic there was a growing interest among companies to incorporate artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation and other technologies into their business practices.

“Companies have realized that there’s so much power in data and technology to either attract new customers or understand customer behavior,” Slabinski says.

“New technologies help keep companies relevant and generate more revenue.”

Though some jobs like information security analysts and data scientists typically require a bachelor’s degree, not all of the in-demand jobs require formal post-secondary education.

Slabinski suggests job seekers interested in breaking into the technology field sign up for a coding boot camp, reading books about the industry or volunteering at a non-profit organization to gain real-world experience. ”

Most importantly, have a clear understanding of what it is you bring to the table,” she shares.

“Are you creating any programs or products you can share with a potential employer? What are tangible results you can share with them, from your work?”

People also tend to underestimate the power of online networking in securing a technology job, Slabinski adds.

“You should look within your professional and personal network and tell people, ‘This is the kind of work I’m looking for, who do you know in this industry? How do I go about securing a job?’ she explains.

“Just be resilient and aggressive in terms of your communication and follow up until you land your dream role.” 

JobProjected Growth RateMedian PayStatisticians35.40%$92,270Information security analysts33.30%$103,590Data scientists and mathematical science occupations31.40%$98,230Epidemiologists29.60%$74,560Operations research analysts24.60%$86,200Actuaries24.50%$111,030Software developers and software quality assurance analysts, testers22.20%$110,140Computer and information research scientists21.90%$126,830Medical scientists (except epidemiologists)16.90%$91,510Forensic science technicians15.60%$60,590

BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has called on men and women to never cease to fight for a non-sexist society with a deep respect for its women and girl children.

“If we fail, the struggle for women’s total emancipation will regress to the detriment of the national cause to free the potential of each one of us,” Motshekga said.

Motshekga made the call when she was delivering a memorial lecture on the life and times of Mama Charlotte Maxeke held at The Glen High School in Pretoria.

The lecture was presented in the context of the United Nations inspired International Day of the Girl Child commemorated last week. 

Government has declared 2021 the Year of Charlotte Maxeke, and is being commemorated under the theme, ‘The Year of Charlotte Maxeke: In celebration of the 150th birthday anniversary of Mme Charlotte Mannya Maxeke’.

Motshekga said the best way to honour the struggle stalwart is to free the potential of each girl child, each woman and liberate men from their unearned vantage point of male privilege.

“If we did not aim to smash the engrained system of patriarchy, male chauvinism and win the war against gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), Mama Charlotte Maxeke’s fervent contribution to the national cause of national liberation would have been in vain,” Motshekga said.

To keep Maxeke’s memory alive and continue the fight for the liberation of the girl child, Motshekga said the department has registered some notable successes, however, the work is not complete.

“I still call upon more collaboration and scaling of some of our excellent policy-driven initiatives. We will not tire until our mission of gender empowerment for the girl child is achieved.

“Our operational framework on Care and Support for Teaching and Learning places the child at the centre, with a deliberate bias towards vulnerable girl children,” Motshekga said.

Liberating children 

The Minister highlighted government’s initiatives and policy positions, through the Department of Basic Education, that seek to liberate children, honour women and smash the system of patriarchy.

These include, among others, the Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) formation, which focuses on providing Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), linkages to health and social services, homework assistance, and career guidance.

The programmes are implemented in 14 districts with high HIV prevalence. 

The Minister said over 500 000 learners have received Comprehensive Sexuality Education.

“We have placed over 4 000 Learner Support Agents (LSAs) in schools to scale up sexuality education and act as partners to link learners to services.  The Adolescent Girls and Young Women coverage will extend to 60% of education districts by 2022.

“In 2019, we developed standard operating procedures for the provision of sexual reproductive health services in secondary schools. The SOPs are aligned to the Integrated School Health Policy, which provides guidance on on-site services at schools,” Motshekga said.

Learner pregnancy

The DBE has also developed the Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools, which aims to support the rights of learners to education, in case they fall pregnant.

The policy guides schools on supporting and managing pregnancy cases to eliminate discrimination and exclusion of pregnant learners from their studies.

Motshekga reported that Cabinet has adopted the revised Basic Education Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools as a “pushback against men in fancy suits who impregnate girls as young as 10 years”.

“This revised policy seeks to ensure the accessible provision of information on pregnancy prevention, care for the pregnant, counselling and choice of termination of pregnancy, amongst others. Furthermore, it provides for the upscaling of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education as a crucial part of school curricula to safeguard learners’ sexual and reproductive health rights.

National Strategic Plan on GBVF 

In 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the National Strategic Plan on Gender-based Violence and Femicide.

Motshekga said the department already had in place various policies to address the safety of girl learners.

These include the Protocol for the Management and Reporting of Sexual Abuse and Harassment in Schools, the National School Safety Framework, and the Protocol to Deal with Incidences of Corporal Punishment in Schools.

“The strategic plan on GBV came when the country experienced a sudden spike in GBV cases in the earlier parts of the hard COVID-19 lockdown.  We bemoaned the rise in GBV cases, and our girl children were caught in the quagmire; it reinforced our contention that girls are safer in schools than at home.

“Currently, we are finalising the Guidelines for the social inclusion of the LGBTQ+ schooling community.  This initiative is a collective effort with civil society organisations so that all children, irrespective of gender identity and sexual orientation, can realise their constitutional right to education,” the Minister said.

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA|

THE launch of the second phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus this past week represents great progress in our quest to create job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of currently unemployed South Africans.

We established the employment stimulus last year to create as many opportunities as possible in the shortest possible time. This required new and innovative ways of working to implement programmes at an unprecedented speed and scale.

The recruitment process of the many people who were unemployed made use of digital platforms to reach as many eligible participants as possible. For example, small-scale farmers were able to apply for support via USSD and receive input vouchers to their cellphones.

Since the Department of Basic Education opened applications for the next cohort of school assistants just two weeks ago, over 940,000 young people have applied via the zero-rated recruitment platform called SAYouth.mobi, which forms part of the national Pathway Management Network.

The use of new technologies in offering employment opportunities has made recruitment much easier, quicker and more transparent.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has enabled and facilitated cooperation in the public sector. Programmes in phase one were implemented by 11 national departments. Their activities were aligned to avoid duplication and wastage and enhance learning from the experience of others.

The employment stimulus has also shown the importance of social partnership. Government, business, labour and civil society have come together to bring those who are unemployed into the economy.

More than half a million South Africans have already benefitted from the first phase, with several programmes still underway. Participants were given the opportunity to earn a livelihood, to learn new skills and upgrade existing ones, and to use their experience as a springboard to get another job or to self-employment.

For example, a number of participants appointed by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in its phase one programmes were able to secure private sector employment by the end of March 2021. Many of those in the first cohort of school assistants, similarly, have found their way into employment, armed with experience, training and references.

The programmes implemented through the Presidential Employment Stimulus have also benefited communities more broadly. The focus has been on job creation in sectors with direct social impact such as education, food security, public infrastructure maintenance and environmental protection.

Through this Presidential Employment Stimulus young people were employed to support and assist teachers in our schools. Others were employed to build bridges in rural communities. Many Early Childhood Development Centres were helped to survive and reopen. Subsistence farmers were supported to expand production, and environmental assets such as rivers and wetlands were restored and maintained.

As part of phase two, we are establishing a Social Employment Fund that will support work for the common good led by community organisations in areas as diverse as urban agriculture, public art, informal settlement upgrading and community safety.

In the midst of the severe economic setback caused by the coronavirus pandemic, public and social employment has provided an important stimulus to job creation. This is the implementation of our commitment that the state should actively support employment while the labour market recovers.

Through the Presidential Employment Stimulus we have brought young people into the labour force in far greater numbers in an unprecedented manner in a short space of time. Some 84 per cent of the participants in phase one were young people under the age of 35, and two-thirds were women.

In phase two we expect this number to be even higher, as the stimulus will provide almost R1 billion in funding for the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention. As part of the intervention, several young people will be recruited into a revitalised National Youth Service. Young people will receive training in digital skills and youth-owned enterprises will receive support to expand and hire.

Unemployment in our country is a crisis. We cannot afford endless delays in addressing this problem because of bureaucratic red-tape, outdated recruitment processes, lack of capacity and planning, or programmes that are short-lived or unsustainable.

The success of the Presidential Employment Stimulus has shown that when we work together, move with speed, think creatively and manage our resources well, we can make a huge impact.

The Presidential Employment Stimulus has demonstrated that we can create jobs if we work together as the public sector, labour, community and government.

I have no doubt that the next phase of the Presidential Employment Stimulus will bring us even closer to meeting our collective goal of decent work and opportunity for all.

* From the desk of the President

THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) will tomorrow launch the National Schools Hygiene Programme (NSHP) and kick-start the extended Hand Hygiene Programme at Zimasa Primary School in Langa, Cape Town.

The department’s implementation of the National School Hygiene Programme is an initiative supported by Unilever through its brands Lifebuoy, Mentadent P and Domestos.

“This programme involves a 21-day behaviour change intervention in class regarding the washing of hands with soap, brushing of teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste, and proper cleaning of school toilets,” the department said in a statement.

The Deputy Director-General of Care and Support in Schools, Dr Granville Whittle, will deliver the keynote address at the launch.

Global Handwashing Day is globally celebrated on October 15 each year. It is a campaign to motivate and mobilise millions around the world to wash their hands with soap at critical times.

The 2021 Global Handwashing Day is commemorated under the theme, ‘Our Future is at Hand – Let’s Move Forward Together’.

The department said that the Western Cape province will pioneer the implementation of the Extended Hand Hygiene Programme.

“Grade 1 educators and peer educators have received training on NSHP and Extended Hand Hygiene Programme in preparation for the implementation after its launch, which is on Global Hand washing Day,” the department said.

THE quality assurance examination board, Umalusi, says plans are in place and the system is ready to administer the November 2021 final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

Umalusi said strict measures are in place ahead of the examinations, which will commence officially on Wednesday, 27 October 2021 and conclude on Tuesday, 7 December 2021.

The examinations will be written at approximately 11 308 examination centres across the country and marking will be conducted at about 193 marking centres.

Addressing a media briefing on Friday, Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi said the council has granted approval to private and public assessment bodies to administer the 2021 end-of-year national examinations.

“Umalusi conducts quality assurance of assessment to ensure that assessment leading to the award of certificates in schools, adult education centres and technical and vocational education and training colleges is of the required standard. This is in order to ensure that the certificates issued by Umalusi are credible.

“The quality assurance process includes the following, extra moderation of question papers, moderation of school based assessment, monitoring of the state of readiness…education of marking and standardisation of examination results,” Rakometsi said.

The CEO said that despite identified shortcomings, the Council is generally satisfied that all assessment bodies are ready to undertake this massive task despite COVID-19.

He said in the past few months, public and independent assessment bodies have worked hard to ensure their examination systems comply with Umalusi’s policy and directives regarding the administration, management and conduct of NSC examinations.

“As a Quality Council, Umalusi has fulfilled its role in monitoring and verifying the work of the following assessment bodies – Department of Basic Education (DBE), Independent Examinations Board (IEB), and the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI),” he said.

This year, Umalusi said it has continued to implement a Risk Management Based (RMB) approach as its strategy to evaluate the level of preparedness of assessment bodies to conduct the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

The CEO said the rationale behind the use of the strategy was to enable Umalusi to identify risks that may compromise the delivery of credible examinations on time and advise the affected assessment bodies accordingly.

Umalusi has appreciated the effort made by all assessment bodies in putting systems in place to ensure that the integrity of national examinations is not compromised despite limitations imposed by COVID-19.

Umalusi has issued a stern warning to all stakeholders regarding incidents of cheating that were reported last year.

“Once again, as we have done in the past, and in light of what transpired in 2020, Umalusi wishes to issue a stern warning to all learners and teachers to refrain from all forms of cheating, including paper leakages.

“We berate and condemn this criminal practice with the contempt it deserves. Cheating compromises the integrity of our national examination system, which we are mandated to jealously protect as a Quality Council,” the CEO said. – SAnews.gov.za

A multi-million rand centre to promote science, technology, and innovation has been launched in the Eastern Cape. The centre also offers courses in the study of space, science, and astronomy as well as teacher development programmes.

Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister Dr Blade Nzimande opened the centre on Thursday.

It is the first of its kind in the Eastern Cape. Apart from promoting science, the centre in Cofimvaba is also expected to provide job opportunities for the youth and promote indigenous knowledge through science.

Dr Nzimande says the centre is going to support and benefit many rural schools in the area.

“Part of the aim is also to excite young people to experience and to feel what science is, that’s another important aspect of it but also one of the most crucial dimensions is that this is going to act as a science centre to support many schools in the locality with the connectivity that is there. Some of the subjects and lectures and periods being offered centrally.”

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane says this is going to help bridge the digital gap for rural learners.

“It’s also going to help us to really optimise the usage of it with getting universities to stop being ivory towers as you see that we already have a couple of universities inside here showcasing. So, we are quite happy that in these deep rural areas we have a centre like this that is able to help us to really bridge this digital divide that we have been talking about.”

Learners say they are happy because they will have access to technology, and the centre will broaden their knowledge on career choices in the science field. “This will help us more because it will cost us less, we won’t need to go to other provinces for science. We only have to come here do our experiments at a cheaper cost,” says one of the learners. ”

Another learner says; “Everything here is practical and there might be a festival competition that will inspire more learners to pursue their learning in science.”‘

The Director of the Teacher Development Programme Daan Jonker says nearby rural schools will be able to borrow equipment from the centre.

“We are going to have a scheme where teachers from science projects will be able to come and borrow some equipment from the centre, take it to the school, do the experiment that is needed for the curriculum, bring it back so that other schools can also benefit from that.”

Premier Oscar Mabuyane says more projects like this are in the pipeline for other areas in the Eastern Cape.

BASIC Education minister Angie Motshekga says her department is working on the full return of students to schools, but has continued to face problems around space and social distancing.

Motshekga said that her department has informed all teachers that they will need to return to schools to help ‘reboot the system’.

However, she noted that her department did not ‘succeed fully’ with the return of primary schools. While around 60% of schools could accommodate the return of learners, Motshekga said that there are space issues in some of the country’s township schools.

She added that preference would initially be given to Grade 10 and Grade 11 students to complete the curriculum and are fully prepared to sit their matric exams in 2022.

The minister noted that the 2021 matric cohort lost a significant amount of teaching time due to the country’s various lockdowns, resulting in little holiday time for students or teachers.

South Africa’s primary schools (Grades R – 7) returned to full-time teaching at the end of July as part of the country’s move to an adjusted level 3 lockdown.

However, high school students have continued to work rotationally, leading to concerns around a loss in learning time.

Under the current rotational system, high schools operate under one of three systems. Students are either expected to attend school physically every second day, every second week or once a day in a morning or afternoon slot.

During downtime, students are expected to complete assigned work to make sure they don’t fall behind the curriculum. A number of schools have also incorporated online and digital learning platforms for students.

Matric exams 

South Africa’s 2021 matric cohort is set to begin their final exams from 1 November, through to 7 December, with a record 735,677 full-time candidates set to write – an increase of 128,451 students, compared to last year, the minister said.

“This is the Grade 11 Class of 2020, that did not complete their curriculum; but through the sheer hard work and dedication of our teachers, they have been able to cover the entire curriculum of 2021, and that they even had enough time to do revisions.”

Motshekga said that the introduction of remote learning interventions, together with learning camps, has assisted in ensuring the entire curriculum was covered.

“We have consulted with provinces to check on their state of readiness, and provinces have confirmed that it is all system go. In terms of learner support, the Woza Matrics Campaign is available and offers tuition support to Grade 12 learners in ten subjects.

“We urge all our learners to take advantage of the learning and teaching support materials as well as the support availed through the campaign. We also have hundreds of zero-rated platforms on our website.”