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Motshekga to give an update on the readiness of schools for reopening

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Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga will this evening give an update on the readiness of schools for reopening on Monday morning.

Motshekga had announced that schools will reopen for Grade 7 and Grade 12 learners when Level 3 starts on June 1.

The National Association of School Governing Bodies (NASGB) says they have met with Motshekga and agreed that schools that don’t have the necessary equipment and protocols in place, must not reopen on Monday.

The NASGB’s General-Secretary, Matakanye Matakanya, says all parents and teachers who observe that their school does not have the necessary PPE or protocols in place, must contact the association and the Department.

“We did meet with the Minister yesterday. We agreed with the Minister that this coming week must be a week for mopping up. We really raised concerns that there are schools that do not have the non-negotiables. We’re referring to water, PPEs, social distancing. The teachers and parents must ensure that today (Sunday) they go into their schools. If there are things that really supposed to be in schools are not there, they must alert us they must alert the Department,” says Matakanya.

The National Professional Teacher’s Organisation of South Africa (NAPTOSA) insists that the re-opening of schools should be delayed as many schools are still not ready to accommodate learners.

NAPTOSA, the second largest teacher union, was among the education unions and other stakeholders that met Motshekga to discuss the partial re-opening of school.

“There are large areas in some of the provinces that are not ready and so we appealed to the Minister to say let’s delay the return of the learners to schools. Because even the circular that was published introduces new things like a much greater number of learners returning after the Grades 7 and 12 and the schools have not planned for that,” says Basil Manuel, NAPTOSA Executive Director.

In this video, Minister Angie Motshekga visits a school to check for readiness

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