The Department of Basic Education says it is all systems go for schools to reopen on Monday.
Minister Angie Motshekga made the announcement in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon.
Schools were initially supposed to reopen for learners on the 27th of last month, but this was delayed by two weeks due to the second COVID-19 wave. The department issued a new school calendar last week, which could help to give schools 40 weeks of learning and teaching during this academic year.
The first term starts on Monday and will end on April 23. The second term will commence on May 3 and end on July 9.
Motshekga says the health and safety of teachers and learners remains a top priority.
“We’ve also amended our school calendar for 2021 as published by the department confirming that tomorrow the 15th of February will be the first day for public schooling in 2021 and from the outset we want to emphasise that the health and the safety of our teachers, of our learners and our staff remains our top priority,” she says.
Motshekga says it has been three weeks since the department started phasing-in the reopening of schools.
School management teams returned on January 25; and teachers have been back at work for two weeks now, since 1 February.
Placements
Minister Motshekga says the demand for space in schools, especially for Grade one and Grade eight learners, remains a challenge.
She says although good progress have been made in provinces, more than 16 000 learners are still awaiting spaces in schools.
The Minister says provinces will work with speed to place all learners next week. She has appealed to parents to cooperate with officials at district level to accelerate the placement process.
Leaked exam papers
Basic Education says the leakage of matric examination question papers last year was not that widespread, and did not affect the integrity of the matric results. One person has been arrested and has appeared in court for leaking the Physical Science and Mathematics papers.
Chairperson of the National Examination Irregularities Committee, Luvuyo Bono, says investigations found that there was no collusion.
“What appeared from the investigation was that the candidates had in fact shown that they had done the work individually and that there was no evidence of collusion and that the leaks had really came out or spread through a WhatsApp message and based on the evidence that had been collected through the investigation a recommendation on the basis that the 2020 combined exams were not compromised which we accepted and we are happy with,” says Bono.
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Health and safety
Minister Motshekga says her department will continue to maintain a balance this academic year between health, safety and dealing with curriculum gaps in schools, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Motshekga says the impact of the coronavirus continues to be felt in the Basic Education sector. More than 1 100 educators have passed away from COVID 19 – with over 150 teachers being lost this year alone.
