Cape Town - Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga's media briefing on the readiness for the reopening of schools has been postponed to Monday at 11am
According to the Department of Basic Education the briefing, which was set to take place at 6pm on Sunday, has been rescheduled "due to the minister being engaged in further consultations on the readiness for the reopening of schools".
Grade 7s and 12s were due to go back to school on Monday as South Africa enters lockdown alert level 3, but this has been met with strong opposition from various teacher unions and bodies.
A joint survey conducted by South Africa's teacher unions showed that no more than 55 percent of principals reported being ready to resume teaching and learning when schools open on Monday.
In terms of provision of face masks, all provinces scored below 25 percent except Western Cape which scored 84 percent.
The leaked survey concluded that some challenges are common across as many as six provinces, such as:
- inadequate water for Covid-19 requirements (6 provinces),
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water tanks that are required not yet delivered (6 provinces),
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insufficient masks delivered (two per person) (8 provinces).
Based on these findings the unions are of the view that: “Once schools have the material necessities for return, educators and support staff can return. Once the teaching and support staff return - planning for teaching can commence.”