School closures not a holiday, we can turn kitchens into classrooms – Lesufi
While the department of education mulls over a plan of action, the MEC advised that school closures were an opportunity and not a holiday for kids.
Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi speaks at the Gauteng department of education’s press briefing on the Parktown Boys’ High drowning debacle, 24 January 2020. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark
The closure of schools should motivate communities to develop a stronger homeschooling guide to assist parents to step in as interim teachers, Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said in a tweet, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address at the Union Buildings on Sunday evening.
Ramaphosa announced that schools would be closed from Wednesday 18 March and would remain closed until after the Easter weekend, which runs from 10 to 13 April.
This means many children will remain at home for almost a month before returning to school, if the dates are not extended.
To compensate for the extended closure which starts this week, the mid-year school break would be shortened by one week.
While the department of education mulls over a plan of action, Lesufi advised that school closures were an opportunity and not a holiday for kids.
In the tweet, he wrote: “The closure must not be seen as a holiday for our kids but turning our kitchens to be the new classroom. For that, we need a new approach.
GDE Top Management taking decisions on #CoronaVirusSA #CoronavirusInSA pic.twitter.com/1fnPrnlcEL
— Steve Mabona (@Steve_Mabona) March 16, 2020
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