A number of public schools in South Africa have chosen to remain open as they await an official government directive stating their required closure.<\/p>\n
President Cyril Ramaphosa said last week that schools would close from Monday (27 July), through to 24 August. Private schools remain open.<\/p>\n
However, the Beeld<\/a> <\/strong>reported that some schools remain open because no official regulations around the announcement have been gazetted.<\/p>\n The Federation of Governing Bodies of South African Schools (Fedsas) chief executive Paul Colditz said that public schools were left with more questions than answers<\/a><\/strong> following president Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n “It is not supported by new regulations, directives or the publication of a new school calendar,” he said.<\/p>\n “In this case decision-makers such as school governing bodies are supposed to assume that the existing directives and calendar remain in effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Colditz said Fedsas is not able to provide guidance to its members until amended directives and a new school calendar are formally published.<\/p>\n “However, schools are closed from Monday, which means that planning has to take place without any legal framework available. This makes an already challenging situation even more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the president indicated in his speech that the decision was based on thorough consultation, the final plan was never shared with all role-players, he said.<\/p>\n “We were part of meetings where proposals were discussed but there was no consensus on a final plan.”<\/p>\n School closures<\/strong><\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s public school students were due to begin a four-week break from physical teaching from Monday (27 July) amid a surge in coronavirus cases.<\/p>\n Ramaphosa said that while this break will extend from 27 July – 24 August, some grades will return at an earlier date, including:<\/p>\n Ramaphosa said that due to the delay, the current academic year will also be extended beyond the end of 2020. Further information, he said, would be gazetted at a later date.<\/p>\n A number of grades have also not returned to school since the introduction of restrictions in mid-March, with some grades only set to return as late as\u00a0September<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n As part of a staggered return plan, Grade 7 and Grade 12 students returned at the start of June, while Grade R, Grade 6 and Grade 11 students returned at the start of July.<\/p>\n\n