The Minister of Basic Education welcomes the decision of the public sector unions to suspend the national public sector strike.
We have lost 17 days of learning and teaching time as a result of the strike in most of our schools. My first priority is to ensure that we are able to recover the lost time. I am calling on all teachers and learners to return to school immediately and to resume with learning and teaching.
In order to ensure that our curriculum outcomes are met for all grades for this year and to give our Grade 12s the best possible chance for success in the final examinations, we need to put in place drastic measures across the system. I am engaging with all relevant stakeholders and will meet the MECs of Education tomorrow to finalise a national recovery plan that will be put in place as soon as possible.
The success of our recovery plan will be predicated on our ability to create the necessary conditions for learning and teaching to happen. Minister Motshekga said, “I accept that it might have been difficult to get the message of returning to class to all members, and that we might not be functioning at maximum capacity as a result today. However, I do expect that all learners and teachers will be in class by tomorrow.”
I call on all parents to ensure that their children return to class. All our schools are open and all our teachers will be at their posts tomorrow.
I also want to thank all South Africans for your patience during the very difficult strike period. I thank in particular all those parents who provided supervision at schools and who provided other kinds of support to our children. I am indebted to all those South Africans who volunteered their time and effort to support learning and teaching in our schools.
Enquiries:
Ms Hope Mokgatlhe
Spokesperson of the Minister
Cell: 071 680 6849
Source: Department of Basic Education
