Uncategorized
WENDY MOTHATA |
THE minister of Basic Education said on Sunday that she is confident the schools are ready for learners to
return to full-time learning from Monday.
Mosthekga was briefing the media on the state of readiness for the reopening of schools.
This is after the Cabinet approved changes to the Adjusted Alert Level 1 COVID-19 regulations last week.
The cabinet decided to end rotational learning and remove social distancing measures.
Motshekga said that pupils at primary, secondary and special schools would commence full-time
attendance. She added that the rotational timetable which was implemented due to the COVID-19
pandemic is coming to an end.
“In all our engagements, there has been overwhelming support for the full return of learners. We are
confident that schools are ready for the new norm,” Motshekga said.
The minister said that on Sunday a Gazette would be published which will usher the new environment as
per the cabinet’s decision.
“We have today published a Gazette, which officially ushers in the new environment as per the cabinet
decision. The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) met twice this week, and agreed that full-time
attendance starts tomorrow,” she said.
Motshekga said that the return to daily attendance will assist the sector to intensify its implementation
of the curriculum recovery plan.
“The return to normal timetabling will assist the sector to intensify its implementation of the curriculum
recovery plan. The learning losses incurred in the past two years are indisputably devastating.”
She further added that the first step towards addressing the crisis of lost learning is to prevent further
disruptions.
“The first step towards addressing the crisis of lost learning is to prevent further disruptions to school
time, and prevent other learning losses while ensuring the health and safety of our school communities.
The second step is to introduce measures to catch up on the time, as well as the teaching and learning
that was lost through the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The minister further encouraged people to vaccinate.
“We do want everyone in the sector to vaccinate, so we are encouraging our teachers to go for a
booster which is available at different health sites. We also discussed the need to make sure that we
encourage our young people to vaccinate,” Motshekga said.
The minister further addressed the issue of late delivery of stationary and overcrowding in some of the
schools.
“The matter of late delivery of stationery and textbooks in the Eastern Cape, in particular, was raised
sharply in the meetings with stakeholders. Overcrowding was also a common concern, identified as one
needing special attention.”
-Inside Education