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Independent schools will open a week later than planned.
- Independent schools have delayed opening to 2021 by a week.
- All preschool activities, such as sports and orientation, have been canceled.
- Parents have been encouraged to reduce socializing in preparation for the new academic year.
Independent schools have delayed opening their doors to students for a week as a result of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The schools were supposed to open on January 12, but the executive director of the Independent Schools of Southern Africa (Isasa), Lebogang Montjane, said this has been postponed until January 18. The decision was made after President Cyril Ramaphosa moved the country to Blockade Level 3 until January 15.
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Montjane said that most of the schools in the sector will open on January 18, but some will begin online lessons from January 13.
“We have postponed the opening until January 18 while we await the president’s announcement on January 15 on the Level 3 lockdown. Depending on what we hear from the government, we will have a revised schedule.
System
“There is a sudden spike in Covid-19 right now, so schools are thinking about implementing a hybrid system where some children go back to school and others attend online,” Montjane said.
Rage
Montjane said the industry was aware that the second wave was started, in part, by enrollment students from their schools when they attended Rage parties late last year. Many of these events were later canceled.
“You have to remember that the second wave started with the Rage matrix parties attended by independent school children so you have to be careful with the way we open schools. We also understand that this new variant of Covid-19 is more contagious and it also infects young people, “Montjane said.
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He said that while they were ready to start the school year, Isasa had told all of its affiliated schools not to organize camps or sports activities.
Orientation
“Schools generally organize camps and orientation days before the opening of the academic year. We have told all of our schools to cancel all preschool activities like orientation and sports camps to avoid infections,” he said.
Montjane said that while last year’s closure of students attending classes from home was difficult for the industry, they were starting to see more parents signing up for their schools.
“For us there was no wasted time in terms of days of attendance and coverage of the curriculum. Unlike the public schools, we did not have to look at the curriculum and make a determination on what will be covered and what will not.
“While we see other parents transferring their children from higher paying schools to less expensive schools, we also see children joining the sector because we have managed to complete the curriculum,” Montjane said.
