Schools around the country will remain open despite rising Covid-19 cases, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has said.
Motshekga said this on Saturday during a media briefing.
She said her department was not insensitive to concerns raised by many about the rising infections.
“We are of the view that schools must remain open and saying so we are not insensitive to the concerns raised about rising infections. The position that we will be presenting to Cabinet and the national command council is that Covid cases must be handled case by case in a differentiated approach.
Minister Motshekga: We believe that schools must remain open and in saying so we are not insensitive to the concerns raised about the rising infections.
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 19, 2021
“The position is that we continue to handle Covid-19 cases according to the differentiated strategy, on a province-by-province, school-by-school basis,” said Motshekga.
FULL SPEECH | Motshekga speaks on DBE response to Covid-19
Motshekga’s remarks came a week after the Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF) threatened to close down schools if the department of basic education continued with its plan to reopen schools.
According to News24, the EFF leader, Julius Malema, said the Covid-19 third wave was alarming, adding that school pupils had to be protected at all costs amid the increasing number of infections across the country.
Although Motshekga admitted that there were disruptions in the sector, she, however, maintained that the majority of schools remained stable.
[LIVESTREAM] Minister Motshekga briefing media on sector’s response to COVID-19 and its impact on schooling https://t.co/6tPuq4iZsQ
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) June 19, 2021
“Just this week we had reported cases of 100 schools which were disrupted, and in the sector we have more than 25 517. So, which means 25 400 schools remain stable and that is why we are saying let schools and provinces handle any outbreak and not expect that we must shut down the system,” Motshekga said.
She said the department had taken advice from its health counterparts in making its decision.
Motshekga said teaching staff will be vaccinated starting on June 23 and continue until July 8 2021.
A total of 582 000 teachers are expected to be vaccinated within this period, she said.
PICTURE: Twitter/@DBE_SA
