The Director-General of the Department of Education, Mathanzima Mweli,has announced to Members of Parliament that the Gauteng grade 12 &7 learners will return to school on the 6th of May 2020.
South Africa is still on a National lockdown until the 1st of May 2020. As a result learners have been at home and advised to do home schooling while using online resources as well as the Dstv MindsetPop channel on 317.
However, the Department of Education has come to a decision to reopen schoolda despite the fact that the number of COVID-19 infections in SA has skyrocketed to approximately 4996 confirmed cases and 93 deaths.
The DG of Education, Mweli, suggests that there will be no May/ June examinations instead students will be using the examination season to catch up on lost lessons.
Matriculants will supposedly write their preliminary exams in late September, pushing their final examinations towards late November to December.
It is also noted that the Department of Education will be introducing safety measures on all school premises. Learners will not be allowed to hug, kiss or touch each other. No school events will be allowed, no extracurricular activities will be allowed. Teachers,students and staff members will constantly sanitize their hands and surroundings.
There is a 14 day period between the reopening dates of all grades. This is to measure progress as well as symptoms and to ensure that a new group does not come into a COVID-19 high risk environment.
The department will reopen schools first for senior students in hopes that they will be able to guide and teach younger students how to survive at school during this pandemic, when the time comes.
-by Nthabiseng Sekonyela
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