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South Africa's department of basic education is drafting legal requirements on safety measures schools will have to meet when they tentatively reopen next month amid the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis, director-general Hubert Mweli told members of parliament on Tuesday.
Mweli told a virtual meeting of Parliament's portfolio and standing committees on basic education that May 6 had been set as the likely date for reopening schools, but this would only apply to learners in Grade 7 and Grade 12, as they are "exit grades" and have fewer numbers.
Grade 11 and Grade 6 will follow two weeks later on 20 May, followed by Grade 10 and Grade 5 on 3 June, Grade 9 and Grade 4 will follow on 17 June, Grade 8 and Grade 3 on 1 July, Grade 2 and Grade 1 on 8 July, and Grade R on 15 July.
He added that the department needed to balance the need to continue with the school year with that of ensuring pupils were safe.
Mweli said a team of lawyers was working on a list of safety measures schools would need to sign off on to prevent lawsuits from parents.
"If we don't (put) reasonable measures in place to ensure schools are safe, we will be sued left, right and centre," he said.
Basic requirements would include adequate water supply to enable frequent hand-washing, while classroom numbers would have to be kept below 40, he added.
Schools across South Africa have been closed since March 18 in a bid to contain transmission of the coronavirus which has spread rapidly across the world since being first reported in China last December.
Most independent schools, which have better resources than government-run institutions, have however been able to keep up with the 2020 curriculum by conducting virtual classes.
Last month, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said her department had prepared online and broadcast support resources for learners, with a focus on Grade 12 students who are due to write their school-finishing examinations at the end of the year.
The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga, as well as the Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, will address the media on Thursday morning.
- African News Agency (ANA)
