The basic education outlined that only Schools will welcome more learners and educators as Grades R, 6 and 11 will now be returning to school on Monday. This was recently announced by Minister Angie Motshekga during a meeting of the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). The CEM comprises the minister, her deputy, all education MECs as well as the Heads of Education Departments.
The meeting focused on key areas in the basic education sector in the COVID-19 environment. The three grades will be joining Grade 7 and 12 which returned back to school last month. Minister Motshekga stated that this decision applies to all nine provinces.
“The other grades will be phased in during July within the stipulated time frames, as per the Gazette of 29 June 2020, as published by the Minister,” said Motshekga.
According to the DBE, they made this careful consideration after Minister Angie Motshekga met with the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). The implementation of the annual teaching plans (ATP) and registration and support to learners with comorbidities was included on the report.
They also discussed the turnaround time for dealing with examinations and assessment in a COVID-19 environment, as well as the monitoring and evaluation report conducted by the National Education Collaboration Trust-led consortium.
“We will adjust the reopening phases based on the risk-adjusted strategy, which is a considered attempt to balance our approach to schools reopening, taking into account all factors that affect the work we do,”
“We are guided in this by an observation of the rising numbers of community transmissions throughout the country. We recognise that schools are based in communities and learners live in the same affected communities and therefore a careful balancing act must be maintained.” said Motshekga.
