there was “understandably concern” about the opening of schools and other educational institutions amid the second wave. He said the NCCC was dealing with the issue and would give its recommendations in the days that followed.
Education stakeholders – including the Council of Education Ministers, the Heads of Education Departments Committee, school governing body associations, teacher unions and principal associations – met senior department officials on 12 and 13 January to discuss delaying the reopening, said Mhaule.The delay is intended to provide relief to a healthcare system struggling to cope with the high rates of infections, she said.
On whether early childhood development centres should remain closed until 15 February, Mhaule said the Ministerial Advisory Committee had said they could open if they were ready. Statistics showed “that younger children were not as much a risk compared with older children”. In a statement issued by the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union on 15 January, SADTU welcomed the Department of Basic Education’s decision to delay the opening of schools, but does “not agree with the call for educators and SMTs to report for duty from the 25th of January.” SADTU claims “the unions were not consulted” in this decision, according to the statement.
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