Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande reported on day two of South Africa’s national lockdown that the students from Wuhan who had returned to SA and were then placed in quarantine, have completed their quarantine period.
“They completed this quarantine period on Friday and we are working on releasing them so they can return to their homes,” said Nzimande.
“Other students who returned from China after worked-based experience and training have been placed under quarantine in the Ekurhuleni region.
“They are being looked after.”
He highlighted online learning as one of the department’s main challenges.
“We are currently engaging with colleges on pursuing online learning modalities where possible.
“The aim of online learning is that this period of lockdown must not be treated as a holiday,” he said.
He reported that the department has also consulted the Minister of Communications and Telecommunications about access to data to expand online learning.
“On March 26 we made e-learning guides available and will develop catch-up programmes for colleges.
“We are working with tertiary institutions to provide a network for online learning,” he said.
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Students staying in campus residences:
“We are implementing measures to ensure that students who are staying in residences on campuses are not affected and we aim to ensure those students comply with the regulations.
He reported that the number of students staying in university residences include 940 at the University of Johannesburg, 970 at Stellenbosch, and with the highest number, 1 853, at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
“We also found that there were 60 students staying at the residence of Fort Hare of which 40 were not registered students,” Nzimande said.
Social development:
“We don’t take it for granted that this is a testing time for caregivers, it’s a testing time for parents, it’s a testing time for everyone,” said Minister of Social Development Lindiwe Zulu.
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The department’s greatest concerns include halfway houses, substance abuse treatment centres, child and youth centres and shelters for abused women and children.
“As a society we need to be conscious at all times that we have other social ills like abuse.
“We must not lose sight of this.
“The most important areas which I think are going to be a testing time for us in particular will relate to payment of social grants,” Zulu said.
She said, as previously announced, social grants will be paid on April 1.
“Sassa finalised logistical arrangements for payments of grants.
“We can appreciate that there will be instances when things are not adequate.
“We are pushing to ensure all our systems are in place,” she said.
She said a list of Sassa regional managers will be released.
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