Unions urge parents to send their children back to school
Going back to school will enable them to catch up with what is left of the 2020 school calendar. File photo.
Teacher unions and the Gauteng Department of Education have urged parents to send their children back to school as soon as possible.
This will help learners catch up with what is left of the 2020 school year.
Gauteng Education spokesperson, Steve Mabona said it was all systems go since schools reopened on Monday for all grades, with no incidents or disruptions reported by yesterday afternoon.
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Mabona said in order to conform to Covid-19 protocols, the department would be using a rotational system to ensure that not all learners were at schools at the same time, to avoid unnecessary overcrowding.
He added that the preparations for reopening schools included reworking the various school schedules and timetables to enable them to adapt to the “new normal”.
“Indeed we are pleased with our plans so far. We just want to appeal to parents to support schools, educators and learners accordingly during this phase.
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“We are happy with the first days of welcoming the majority of our learners, and looking forward to receiving Grades 5 and 8 on August 31.”
According to our sister publication, IOL, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) secretary, Xolani Fakude said all four teachers unions were behind the move to resume teaching and learning in the country.
Fakude said the reason for calling on parents to send children back was important, given that learners, especially those in township and rural schools, had fallen behind immensely due to the frequent closures experienced.
What was of concern, however, he said, was information from their members that they were struggling with restructuring classes and timetables.
