Durban - A decision has been taken to temporarily close all schools affected by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The Department of Education in KwaZulu-Natal wishes to inform school communities and all education stakeholders that it has temporarily closed all schools that have been affected by massive flooding of heavy downpours and inflows of water that have been taking place in the last few days in KwaZulu-Natal,” the DBE in KZN said in a statement.
It said the strong flooding has caused a huge disruption and it continues to impact negatively on teaching and learning at schools, while it remains a threat to the lives of pupils as well as teachers.
The department said the terrain and level of water has made it extremely difficult for teachers and pupils to reach the schools.
It said in some areas it was extremely dangerous to access schools as pupils and teachers were forced to cross high levels of water.
“We have, therefore, decided to provisionally close down all affected schools until Tuesday, April 19 as we continue to monitor the situation across the province. In the meantime, we are in the process of developing contingency plans to mitigate the impact of the floods and provide short-term measures while the water hopefully subsides.
“To this end, we urge parents and guardians to co-operate with the school authorities and continuously monitor the levels of the water in their respective areas. We remain firm in our resolve to protect learners and teachers at all material times,” the department said.
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