By: Zethu Gweva
There are 200 Eastern Cape schools that remain closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The increasing numbers of pupils in the Eastern Cape contracting Covid-19 has turned the reopening of schools into a debatable decision.
The Eastern Cape Superintendent-General Themba Kojana suggested that all pupils apart from matriculants should stay at home including those in grade seven.
“The increasing infection rate in the Eastern Cape could lead to the department’s inability to react as it should to the increase of infections in the province,” said Kojana.
Although the Eastern Cape is not ready to receive pupils on sixth of July, careful consideration of all the reports, Council of Education Ministers took a decision that only Grade 6, Grade 11 and Grade R will return to school on Monday.
Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said in a statement, the decision affects all provinces.
Motshekga added that the other grades will be phased during the month of July in a differentiated approach within the stipulated time frames as per the gazette of 29 June 2020.
“We will adjust the reopening phases based on the risk-adjusted strategy which is a considered attempt to balance our approach to school reopening taking into account all factors that affect the work we do,” she said.