South Africa on Friday delayed the start to its new school year by two weeks to Feb. 15, in order to prevent schools becoming transmission centres for COVID-19, as new cases have hovered around 20,000 a day for the past week.
School was out for about a third of last year, when South Africa was in the grip of its first wave of coronavirus infections. The closures widened an already stark educational divide between elite schools that easily shifted classes online and the rest with little or no capacity for digital learning.
“CEM (council of education ministers) took this difficult decision, having considered all factors … regarding the current state of the health system,” Deputy Basic Education Minister Reginah Mhaule told a news conference in the capital Pretoria.
“We need to take care of the lives of teachers and … of learners,” she said. South Africa has reported more than 35,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highest in Africa. The start of the school year, which had already been scheduled two weeks later than normal, on Jan. 27, would be delayed for two more weeks.
Mhaule said the minister herself, Angie Motshekga, was unwell at home but recovering, declining to answer a question about whether she had COVID-19.
Like much else in South Africa, education remains divided between a top 10% of schools that have world-class teaching and facilities for the well-heeled, and the poor majority.
Many of the latter were built under apartheid in predominantly black townships and rural areas, and suffer from overcrowding and poor internet access. For most of those, school simply stops when the pupils can’t come into class.
“We are working very hard to improve on the e-learning,” the deputy minister said. “We still have difficulties in rural areas, where we have a challenge of connectivity, but we are working with all service providers … to improve (it).”
COMMENTS 24
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Why not just close the schools altogether and issue Sassa cards — That is how it pans out in any case.
Schooling is so colonial
Vote 54
Ridiculous..Allow the Matrics to go to school so they can get done with the year
Vote 26
The past always gets blamed!!
Is it Apartheids fault that
ANC Municipalities are bankrupt
Our country is filled Zimbabweans
The State was captured
Our towns and cities have potholes bigger than trucks
Service delivery is all but gone
The Zondo Commission was established, to investigate who?
Mayors earn more and do less than their peets in the private sector
The rural towns and townships are overrun with Asians owning businesses
The list is endless.. My fingers don’t have the energy to mention all of the ANC’s shortcomings and theft..Besides it’s load shedding, my internet connection is going to switch off
Vote 50
They learned from the best. This is still better than what apartheid was like to people of colour. 😀
Vote 5
@Steve Roux – Lucky your comment was permitted by the MW Liberal moderators. Careful you don’t overstep and speak more on the truth.
Vote 24
Did Julius know this announcement would be made and try take advance credit for it yesterday?
Vote 16
Too little is happening at the moment for Julieass to capitalize on
Vote 12
….but he wants borders to open? wish my intellect was higher to understand these peoples.
Vote 14
Must be a tribal thing???
Vote 11
It’s easy to understand “them”
Join the ANC and you’ll get first hand all their doings and shenanigans
They put the mob in Italy to shame
Vote 5
“Many of the latter were built under apartheid in predominantly black townships and rural areas, and suffer from overcrowding and poor internet access. For most of those, school simply stops when the pupils can’t come into class.”
Imagine what you could have achieved with education as a Government had you
Stopped stealing our GDP
Cut the wage bill
Locked up the SG for misappropriating funds during his tenure ad Premier and used that money wisely
Stop blaming Apartheid..It’s been more than 25 years
Stop talking and start Governing like a Government should
You the ANC are to blame for the Woes that we as citizens of all races are faced with
Admit it, you’re USELESS
Vote 17
Jip — One of the first things the ANC did when coming into power was to close the teachers colleges — Makes you think ne !!
Vote 23
@Steve Roux – Carefull again Steve, Dont want to be racist now 😉
Vote 6
@trader123.. Thank you trader you’re a good man
There isn’t one racist comment from me in this post, nor any other..I speak the truth
I speak on behalf of all citizens, for we are tired of the theft and sub standard service levels
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” Truth tells it as it is without being window dressed
Vote 11
Unfortunately it’s not only pigmented teachers who aren’t keen on working. Last year, a poll among the very pale, Afrikaans SAOU union found that 70% of them thought we, the private sector, should continue to pay for their nice holidays. They were keen on having the schools closed even longer. I’m pale and Afrikaans myself, for the record.
Vote 2
And once again the tail ( Unions) wags the dog ( ANC ).
Come back Margaret Thatcher, all is forgiven.
Vote 22
Ok my child
I’m just preparingTea and cucumber sandwiches for Denis
See you soon
Vote 9
The madness, stupidity and abuse of power knows no end…
Vote 14
On a lighter note we can all look forwards 25yrs to the country being ran by people who were home schooled by alcoholics.
Vote 22
And will do a good job.
Vote 10
What rational logic determines that a safe well run private school must stay shut???
Vote 8
Yes, as stated “Many of the latter were built under apartheid in predominantly black townships and rural areas”. – – – and since then nothing nothing was done to improve them.
Vote 1
The ANC excels at breeding studity.
There’s a pun in there somewhere.
Vote 5
I urge all ANC voters to please stop voting for this party. What more destruction do they need to do before you start opening your eyes?! We need to rid our country of this parasite of a party, the real pandemic is the ANC and their asinine policies and actions.
There is a possibility they are waiting to vaccinate ALL children and the teachers before allowing them to return to the classroom, but do these children really need the jab when they are not as affected by covid vs the elderly with co-morbidities?
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