Lesufi: 3 weeks of monitoring needed before pupils all return to class
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi says his department needs at least three weeks to monitor the Covid-19 situation at schools before all pupils can return to class.
Pupils went back to the classroom for the start of the third term on Monday.
High school pupils are currently on a rotational timetable.
Lesufi visited several schools in Gauteng to check their readiness for the coming term.
He said 98% of schools are ready for this term, although there are one or two schools with challenges.
Lesufi was speaking at Laerskool Kommando in Brakpan.
The school, which is 104 years old, has debilitated infrastructure.
"Everything is falling apart at this school and these are schools strategically placed to accommodate learners who are coming from neighboring communities. We just came here to check and see if we can assist.
“We are finding ourselves in a difficult position because the school is too old and we need an overhaul to change it and it is not easy when there are learners in the school.”
The school has temporary shelters to assist as some classes have broken windows.
"We are strictly monitoring the Covid cases, we are using the primary schools to check whether we can move to high schools so that the learners can fully come back. We are monitoring in particular learners in grade 7 because the age gap between grade 7 and grade 8 is not that bad.
"If the numbers are not that high we will go back to the minister to motivate for high school learners to come back. We will need three weeks to monitor that including the third wave itself nationally so that we can see if the numbers are manageable, as you know Gauteng was the epicenter for the third wave," said Lesufi.
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