Cape Town - BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has reiterated that all primary school learners will return to school when the third term begins on July 26.
However, she said the date would be determined by the rate of infections in the country.
Motshekga, who was addressing the National Council of Provinces during her budget vote on Tuesday, said the Council of Education for Ministers had agreed in May that all primary school learners should return to school.
She said they had lost significant time of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic and had been trying to regain lost ground over the past few months.
She said they would ensure that they stick to non-pharmaceutical interventions in the education sector.
She said the research had shown time lost in the past few months and that the fight against Covid-19 was not over.
“We are currently faced with mounting evidence from our researchers of significant and continuing learning losses and… as a sector, have agreed that in the third term, pending what the infection rates are, we will start inviting all our primary school learners back to school, so that we can have some normality in the sector because it is affecting us badly,” said Motshekga.
“On 19 May, the Council of Education for Ministers unanimously supported full attendance of primary school learners at the beginning of the third term,” she said.
She added that it was also agreed to suspend contact sports in schools.
IOL