PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the outbreak of Covid-19 a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act.
He announced a range of interventions to curb the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. One of these interventions was that schools in particular have been identified as a big threat in terms of the transmission. Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education in a statement said, “The drastic step of closing schools has become necessary but we also needed to ensure that measures are put in place to mitigate the impact.”
On the Closing of Schools
In accordance with the pronouncement by the President, schools will be closed from 18 March 2020 and resume on 14 April 2020.
“This is unless determined differently,” said Minister Motshekga. “We are going to lose 10 school days as a result of the school closures. To compensate for lost days the June holidays will be cut short by a week. Once opened schools will be encouraged to extend tuition hours.
“Let’s keep in mind that the President has declared a national disaster which means that we are operating under extraordinary conditions.”
Recovery Plans
All mass events of more than 100 people scheduled for March and April will be postponed or cancelled with immediate effect. The activities include the South African School Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE), all school sports programmes and of course assemblies.
“Owing to the infection rate we need to work together to contain the transmission of the virus and as a sector we have to play our part together with all our stakeholders. There are basic things we can do,” said Minister Motshekga.
