Department of Education Extranet

Phasing in of Grades and Closure of Schools and Offices

PHASED IN APPROACH OF GRADE R, 6 and 11

The Northern Cape Department of Education welcomes the decision by the Council of Education Ministers for the phasing in of the next cluster of Grades. Learners from Grade R,6 and 11 are set to return on Monday, 6th of July 2020 and the necessary preparatory work by the Department has been done in this regard.

During this phase, 61 881 learners will return to school. To ensure that all schools adhere to the COVID-19 regulations and guidelines, school were given the options to phase in learners:

a)    Platooning;

b)    Alternating days per week;

c)    Bi-weekly rotational attendance;

d)    Hybrid model.

It should be noted that these models will not be applicable to your Grade 7 and Grade 12 learners, as they will be required to be in attendance on a daily basis. The Department will inform schools and parents when the next cluster of Grades are set to return to school.

All schools received the revised Annual Teaching Plans (ATPs). These ATPs will be monitored by subject advisors, as well as the school bag audit which measures curriculum coverage and the implementation of assessment pieces.    

Grade 12 learners are currently engaged with interventions instituted by some schools. Districts have distributed and mediated study guides, virtual platforms and PowerPoint presentations. Planning is underway to provide focused interventions to prepare learners at risk for the National Senior Certificate examination.

We have 11 Special Schools in the Province, with 4 schools that already opened on the 8th of June 2020. The following Special Schools will be opening on 6 July 2020:

a) Learamele Special School;

b) Kimberley Training Centre;

c) Boitumelo Special School and

d) Jannie Brink Special School.

A total of 8 240 learners are dependent on learner transport to and from school on a daily basis. The Department has scheduled another round of training and orientation sessions for the Transport Operators in preparation for the incoming cohort of learners. We have also availed sanitizers and disinfectant material to operators to ensure that Transport Operators meet all the requirements in terms of COVID-19 regulations and guidelines.

We are aware of Infrastructure challenges at 3 schools namely Reakantswe High School, Venus Primary School and Zingisani Primary School. We are attending to erratic water supply which affects the functioning of the ablution facilities. Contractors are expected to commence work on Monday. The District offices are liaising with schools to determine their readiness to open on Monday.

The Department has to date appointed 1976 screeners and 645 cleaners for all schools. All screeners in schools are appointed on an EPWP contract for six months and get paid a monthly stipend. We provided all screeners with Personal Protect Equipment (PPE) as they are required to perform their duties at the entrances of schools and offices, should anyone show symptoms of the COVID-19.

Due to the spread and impact of the COVID19 virus, and in preparation for the reopening of schools, a total of 2397 institution-based officials, broken up into 2056 Educators and 341 Support Staff, across 406 schools, as having one or more pre-existing illnesses.  Of the 2397 officials, 303 Educators and 56 Support Staff members are aged 60 and above. In total, 1650 Educators and 285 Support Staff are below the age of 60 with one or more comorbidities.

We are constantly monitoring the situation in all our schools and engaging the Department of Health to ensure the health and safety of our educators and learners. The Department has all the systems and precautionary measures in place to curb the spread of the Coronavirus.  

CLOSURE OF SCHOOLS AND OFFICES

The Northern Cape Department of Education can confirm that 13 schools have been closed thus far due to COVID-19 infections. The latest schools that have been closed are Elizabeth Conradie Special School and the Noupoort Combined School.

Other schools that have been closed thus far include:

1. Carnavon Primary School

2. Enoch Mthetho High School 

3. Ikhwezi Lokusa Primary School 

4. Phillipstown High School 

5. Zingisani Primary School 

6. Beacon Primary School 

7. Veritas High School

8. Duineveld High School 

9. Delta Primary School

10. JJ Booysen Primary School and 

11. Kimberley Christian School  

In addition to these 13 schools that have been closed, our Namakwa District office has also been closed due to a confirmed COVID-19 positive case. Another positive COVID-19 case was reported at our Provincial Office in Kimberley, and therefore we have temporarily closed the Unit. We have advised our officials to work from home and remain in self-isolation, whilst the Department of Health are conducting the testing for contact traces.We have made the necessary arrangements for the offices to be disinfected.

We must emphasize that these are individual cases that have been reported and we are working with the Department of Health in this regard. Once a positive case is reported, the Department immediately closes and disinfects the school or offices. We will further determine whether staff, educators or learners at the affected schools will require psycho-social support and assist in this regard.

We further encourage educators, parents and learners to adhere to the COVID-19 regulations to continue to practice good hygiene by washing your hands regularly, maintain social distancing and to always wear your mask to curb the spread or contracting the coronavirus.

End.