Cape Town – Teachers and pupils had lost a term as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, which would require the curriculum to be adjusted in order to catch up, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Monday.
"We have lost a whole term, because March to June is the second term, and we will likely be losing more days to the virus," Motshekga told a media briefing.
This meant the department would have to ensure a realignment of the school curriculum, she said. Officials at national and provincial level had already started tweaking it, with the help of academics, she added.
Motshekga said the lockdown imposed in late March in response to the Covid-19 pandemic had seen jobs lost, families "traumatised", and the education system come to a standstill.
For schools to reopen, a "new environment" had to be created, she said. The Education Department had faced uphill in the process, she said.
"It has caused a lot of difficulties."
On Sunday, Motshekga announced a one-week delay in sending Grade 7 and 12 pupils back to school after education unions objected, saying many schools had not yet been fully provided with necessities that would stop the spread of the virus.
She said on Monday, however, that the preparations for reopening must be completed during the course of this week.
"The ongoing cleaning of schools should be finalised within the week of 1 June, 2020."
The Western Cape on Monday began opening classrooms for the two grades in question as planned.
Its provincial education department told the African News Agency that some 93 000 Grade 7 and 12 pupils were scheduled to return, but they would later in the day have more precise figures as to how many actually reported for their first day back since March 18.