Rural schools around Kuruman, in the Northern Cape, have not yet begun classes for the 2021 academic year.
The schools and roads linking villages to urban areas have been damaged by floods and are yet to be repaired.
Northern Cape declared disaster area due to floods:
The Executive Mayor of John Taolo Gaetsewe Municipality, Sofia Mosikatsi, says repairs are progressing slowly. Mosikatsi says she’s concerned about learners who cannot attend school.
“As we speak we know and acknowledge that we still have a challenge with regards to our children going to school, not all kids in the district managed to go to school, because some of the roads have been damaged have bridges that have been broken. There is no access of transport that is responsible for carrying children to different schools, so it means some of our really learners lost a week or days that they did not manage to attend school.”
Public schools began the 2021 academic year on February 15 after a two-week delay due to a surge in COVID-19 infections during the country’s second wave.
The first term ends on April 23, while the second term will commence on May 3 and end on July 9.
