The Basic Education Department says they are yet to decide whether to cancel the October school holidays, to make up for lost teaching time caused by the on-going COVID-19 lockdown.
Learner infections have been increasing in KwaZulu-Natal, forcing the temporary closure of several schools in and around Durban.
“One of the options we thought we could apply was the doing away or the removal of the October holidays because they were going to help us get back those days. So we have considered that and we have since held a series of meetings with our stakeholders and it seems that they are opposing that particular move. If the stakeholders are insisting that we shouldn’t recover the days that are lost it means that we should just continue with things as they are, which increases the risk of the curriculum not being completed as planned and scheduled in terms of the school calendar that we’ve been using.” the department’s spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.
Since the beginning of this month, two children have died in the province from COVID-19 related complications, sparking calls for the closure of schools. But Mhlanga says this is not a viable option.
“Closing schools is not going to be a solution because we believe that we are able to identify learners or teachers with symptoms when they come to school because of the safety measures that are in place. So what we need to do is allow schools to continue after some time, it will settle down, this is something that we have seen all the time, when school reopens that we see what looks like an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases when in fact its cases that were already there,” adds Mhlanga.
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