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WENDY MOTHATA|
THE Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal has urged all school principals, parents, guardians and school governing to use their discretion on whether or not to send children to school.
“Due to inclement weather conditions, the Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal advises teachers, parents and caregivers to use their discretion whether or not to send their children and teachers going to school tomorrow, being the 23 of May 2022,” the department said.
The department said it will monitor weather patterns and give further advise in this regard.
This move comes after the province of KZN is hit hard by the renewed floods.
The department also said on Monday that it had already dispatched a delegation of senior authorities led by the Head of Department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo to schools to assess the extent of damage caused by the devastating floods that took place over the weekend.
The department further said it was also working around the clock to ensure that all schools return to normality after the floods devastated the parts of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal and deprived some schools access to basic education.
“The Province of KwaZulu-Natal has again been hit by persistent rainfall over the weekend starting Saturday, 21 May 2022 to the late hours of Sunday, 22nd May 2022. Early reports are pointing to some damage to road infrastructure even though they have not yet
reported on schools. However, it is anticipated that roads across the province may be flooded and unusable by the morning of Monday, 23rd May 2022.”
The department said that some affected learners and educators may be unable to make their way to schools.
“It is for this reason that Circuit Managers and School Principals of affected schools are advised to urgently communicate with parents of learners to ensure that they take extra-caution before sending their children to school in the morning.”
The department said that it cannot afford to lose further lives due to flooding of classrooms.
“Should the situation remain the same on the morning of Monday, 23 May 2022, school principals are advised to ensure that learners who would be in schools already are released immediately to the hands of their parents/guardians,” the department said.
The department further urged that any damage to the school infrastructure or roads to school which affect learners and educators must be reported immediately to the Department of Education.
Office-based employees are also advised to be cautious before leaving their homes and those who may already be in departmental buildings should only leave when it is safe to do so.
More than 630 schools were affected by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal with 101 of them being inaccessible and 124 suffering extensive damage.
Addressing the media in Pretoria on behalf of the Social Protection, Community and Human Development Cluster, Health minister Dr Joe Phaahla said the basic education sector has been severely affected.
“We can confirm that 64 learners have been reported to be deceased. One educator and one food handler have also passed away,” Phaahla said.
INSIDE EDUCATION
