Education department halts return to school for certain Grades

THE Department of Basic Education has taken the decision to allow only Grade R, 6 and 11 learners back to school on Monday, 6 July. The decision now means instead of the seven grades that were originally scheduled to return on Monday, only three will now return.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM) today.

The announcement affects all provinces confirmed the department.

Read also: Sadtu concerned about ‘hidden’ Covid-19 cases at schools

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 as published by the Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga.

“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. We are guided in this by an observation of the rising numbers of community transmissions throughout the country. We recognise that schools are based in communities and learners live in the same affected communities and therefore a careful balancing act must be maintained,” said Minister Motshekga.

The Minister will host a media briefing at the weekend to elaborate on the revised plans with the goal of phasing in the remaining Grades.

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