Education Expert, Professor Jonathan Jansen, has advised that the 2020 academic year be called off due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jansen has suggested that schools promote Grade 1 to Grade 11 learners to the next grades, but have a catch-up plan in place.
In the video below, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says her department will prioritize safety first amid the COVID-19 outbreak:
He says schools need to work with universities and colleges to bridge the gap for matric learners.
“We should simply abandon the school year, by which I mean, pass every child from Grade 1 to 11 automatically. So, Grade 1s go-to Grade 2 in 2021 and Grade 7s to Grade 8 and so on. We cannot stop new students coming into the system in Grade 1 and 8, next year (2021) and clog up the system. So, let everybody pass. Then what we do is we start 2021 to make up for the lost time in education. Yes, we could start the academic year earlier next year and so on and so forth.”
In the video below, Spokesperson for the Basic Education Department, Elijah Mhlanga, says Minister Angie Motshekga will present her proposal for the rest of the 2020 academic year to Parliament:
Digital Learning
Some schools have opted for online learning during the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Free State Department of Education launched a digital learning project last Wednesday in an effort to ensure that the province’s matric learners do not fall behind on their studies.
The project is live on social media and seven radio stations.
Some matric pupils from Bainsvlei Combined School have welcomed the help from the Department of Education. Kobile Kobile, one of the learners, said the SABC is really helpful.
“There’s nothing that we can do. So, receiving our lessons like this, SABC is really helping us. We are able to do corrections. We are able to do revisions and able to ask questions. They even gave us their number so we can text them when there’s something we don’t understand.”
Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe said this is the department’s effort to close the gap caused by the lockdown. Makgoe said they hope the use of the digital platform will bear positive results.
