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Suggestions that school vacations can be ruled out for the rest of the year to make up for lost time are not concrete, says Sadtu general secretary Mugwena Maluleke.
“There are a lot of ideas floating around and we will engage the education department on those ideas, as well as share our own ideas,” Maluleke told News24.
On Friday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said a proposal under consideration by the department was to cancel school vacations to make up for lost time in the 2020 academic year.
Even before the shutdown began last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that schools would be closing to deal with the coronavirus outbreak. With the closure extended through April 30, schools will be closed for more than six weeks.
Motshekga spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said the department supported Ramaphosa’s implementation of the blockade to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
READ | Lockout: school vacations may be scrapped to save 2020 academic year, says Motshekga
He added that a team of experts was currently working on a plan on how schools would reopen. The team will also determine when some or all of the schools will reopen once the closure is lifted.
Maluleke said there was an ongoing commitment between the union and the department, including ways to adjust the school calendar, as well as changes that might be necessary in student assessment.
The best way to handle the process of students returning to school, their evaluation and how to handle different age groups were also discussed, he added.
“A class of 25 grade 10 students is much different, when it comes to managing social distancing, than a class of grade R students. At the R grade level, contact is very important for development,” said Maluleke. .
He added that the discussions would also need to include higher education institutions to determine what evaluation processes could be used.
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