Naptosa: Matrics, Grade 7’s must return to school first
The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) has expressed its support for a plan which would see the country’s matrics and Grade 7’s be the first to return to school.
Schools around the country have been closed since the end of March as South Africa battles an outbreak of Covid-19.
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A draft document, purportedly from the Department of Basic Education, has been circulating on social media indicating that government will take a phased approach to reopening schools.
According to the document, Grade 7 and Matrics will return to their respective classrooms on May 6.
Naptosa president Basil Manuel says it’s important for Grade 7 pupils to return to school as soon as possible to allow them to prepare for high school.
“The primary schools need to get as much done and completed with them as soon as possible, because high schools accept five and six different primary school children and then it makes it difficult to catch up with the previous year.
“We are not dissatisfied with the entire document. We are saying there are a few tweaks that we need to do and we need to discuss the big breaks in-between.”
He also confirmed that the department has been in talks with unions around the reopening of schools.