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October school holidays to go ahead as planned: Motshekga

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The October school holidays will go ahead as planned. This was confirmed by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga at a media briefing in Pretoria.

The Department earlier proposed that the holiday starting on October 1 be cancelled because of the schooling days lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Motshekga says after consultation with all role players it was decided that the school calendar must remain as it is.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga briefs the media on COVID-19 impact on schooling:

Motshekga, says academic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic could negatively impact learners’ abilities to advance their careers and earnings in the future.

The department says it is working towards preventing further disruptions to school time, as well as other learning losses.

“Of particular concern are the learning losses reported across the system since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The unpredicted closure of schools and unplanned disruptions to teaching and learning have resulted in the reversal of gains made in the last 20 years. Unfortunately, research indicates that lost school days lead to forgone learning. Our international experience and research has confirmed that learning losses, experienced during the pandemic, lead to long-term adverse effects including learners obtaining lower overall education values and ultimately lower lifetime earnings.” 

South Africa has recorded 10 173 new COVID-19 cases taking total cases to 2 757 1918. The increase represents an 18.1% positivity rate.

A further 274 COVID-19-related deaths have also been reported, taking the country’s total fatalities since the pandemic outbreak to 81 461.

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Additional reporting by Risha-Maduray..

 

 

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