While millions of learners in Grades R, 6 and 11 went back to school across the country on Monday, their peers in the Eastern Cape remained at home.
According to the circular signed on Sunday by Superintendent-General of the Department of Education in the Eastern Cape, Themba Kojana, Grades 3, 6 and 11 will now reopen on 20 July.
Grade R learners will only go back to school on the 17th of August.
The last-minute changes are as a result of an increase in the number of Covid-19 infections which have already claimed the lives of 11 teachers, four non-teaching staff and three learners in the Province.
Grades 4, 9, 10 will reopen on 27 July, while Grades 5 and 8 will open its doors on 3 August and Grades 1 and 2 will go back on the 10th of August.
However, schools that have applied and granted permission to accelerate the phasing in of grades may continue to do so.
As of Monday, the province remained the third worst hit province with 38 081 cases and has the second-highest fatalities in the country with a death toll of 528.
