Growing call to shut schools during coronavirus peak.

Yesterday, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) called on Education Minister Angie Motshekga to suspend classes until the end of September.

Naptosa Executive Director, Basil Manuel, says their National Standing Committee (NSC) met on Tuesday and resolved that schools should close.

“Having considered all the available information, the NSC decided that NAPTOSA should call on the Minister, as unfortunate as it will be, to close schools, as per the advice of the WHO, until the peak of the pandemic has passed,” says Manuel.

Government projections show the country will experience the peak of infections at different times between the end of July and late September.

Education unions were set to meet with Minister Motshekga today, but that meeting has since been postponed.

“We don’t have a date or time for the meeting, but we still feel like it is important to meet with the ministry and put forward our views on how we can take this forward,” says Manuel.

He adds the closure of schools is essential to “protect the physical and mental health of our teachers, education support personnel, learners and parents, who, it must be emphasised, are already taking acute strain, whilst, in the President’s words, we are now heading into ‘the storm.’”

Manuel says Naptosa is not calling for the abandonment of the entire school year, but rather a closure coupled with a plan on how to take the school year to a close.

“ A period of closure should not be wasted. NAPTOSA wishes to offer its assistance to the Minister and the Department of Basic Education to draft such a plan that will be ready for implementation, once it is evident that a stage has been reached in the flattening of the Covid-19 infection curve. Specific attention should be given to the issue of assessments and the position of our matriculants, and other grades, for whom it will be essential to complete the academic year,” concludes Manuel.

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