Teachers unions have issued a warning that South Africa’s schools may not be ready to open as was planned for 19 July 2021, due to the third wave of Covid-19 infections and its impact on the country.
All schools in the country were closed for contact learning at the end of June, in line with the country’s adjusted level 4 lockdown, with the return date set for 19 July.
But with the return date now only 12 days away, teacher unions have warned that schools are unlikely to open on this date due to the high rate of infections.
The South African Teachers’ Union (SAOU) has said that it’s planning on advising schools to begin looking at other options, such as online teaching and learning to minimize time lost. The union is also planning on pushing for a risk-adjusted and differentiated return to teaching, this means a full return to teaching on 19 July is highly unlikely.
These concerns were also echoed by the National Professional Teachers’ Organization of South Africa (Naptosa), which said that a decision was likely to be taken by the end of the week.
“We are saying, if all things being equal, if we are still in the situation we are in now by the time we get to this weekend, then we have to start meeting urgently to reflect on whether the 19th is possible,” said Naptosa executive director, Basil Manuel.
The Department of Basic Education made a statement on Monday, that there has been no change to their plans to reopen schools on 19 July 2021 but that they are continuously monitoring the impact of Covid-19 to determine if they need to update their plans.
Sources: Business Tech, Economy24
ALSO READ: Bullying on the rise in schools
Follow FiND iT on Facebook here.
