Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002)NoticesDirections regarding the reopening of schools and measures to address, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19 in the National Department of Basic Education, and Provincial Departments of Education, and all schools in the Republic of South Africa5A. Return of learners to primary schools and schools for learners with special education needs |
| (1) | A risk adjusted differentiated strategy means an approach to school attendance that is determined by the level of reported COVID-19 infections in the school, and COVID-19 infections in the district, municipality, and country. |
[Direction 5A(1) substituted by section 2(a) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
| (1A) | Schools will reopen as contemplated in direction 5(1)(c) and the principal, school management team, and non-teaching staff in primary schools (for learners in Grades R to 7) and schools for learners with special education needs (Grades R to 12), must utilise the week commencing on 26 July 2021 to finalise the preparations for the return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model on 2 August 2021, as contemplated in sub-directions (2) and (3). |
[Direction 5A(1A) substituted by section 3(a) of Notice No. 422, GG44858, dated 15 July 2021]
| (1B) | Educators must continue with teaching and learning from 26 July 2021, in accordance with the timetabling model adopted by the school, until 2 August 2021, from which date the return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model must be implemented. |
[Direction 5A(1B) substituted by section 3(a) of Notice No. 422, GG44858, dated 15 July 2021]
| (2) | Primary schools (for learners in Grades R to 7) must return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model from 2 August 2021: Provided that the risk adjusted differentiated strategy, as contemplated in sub-direction (1), is implemented, and the minimum health and safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations, are adhered to. |
[Direction 5A(2) substituted by section 2(a) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
| (3) | Schools for learners with special education needs (Grades R to 12) must return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model from 2 August 2021: Provided that the risk adjusted differentiated strategy, as contemplated in sub-direction (1), is implemented, and all health and safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations are adhered to. |
[Direction 5A(3) substituted by section 2(a) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
(4)
| (a) | The social distancing measure in primary schools is reduced to one metre. |
| (b) | Primary schools and schools for learners with special education needs that return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model, as well as school hostels, must ensure strict compliance with social distancing measures and minimum health protocols, which include the wearing of face masks, the washing of hands and the use of hand sanitizers, and must comply with safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations. |
[Direction 5A(4) substituted by section 2(a) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
| (5) | Where practicable, teaching and learning may be conducted outside the confines of a classroom: Provided that all health and safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations, are adhered to and the safety of learners is ensured. |
| (6) | A primary school and a school for learners with special education needs that returns to the traditional timetabling model must utilise all the available rooms or spaces at the school to prevent overcrowding in a classroom: Provided that all health and safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations are adhered to. |
| (7) | Movement of learners must be minimised during teaching time with teachers rotating between lessons. |
| (8) | The Head of Department must provide all reasonable support to enable schools to safely return to a traditional timetabling model. |
| (9) | In keeping with the risk adjusted differentiated strategy and all health and safety measures on COVID-19, as contemplated in these directions, the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the Regulations, a school that is unable to return to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model which prefer to continue with a timetabling model, as contemplated in direction 16(2) and (3), must— |
| (a) | by 6 August 2021, notify the Head of Department thereof, in writing, through the district office, and obtain the Head of Department’s approval to continue with a different timetabling model; and |
| (b) | in the notification to the Head of Department, set out the steps taken to return to a traditional and daily attendance timetabling model and provide reasons for the decision to adhere to a differentiated timetabling model. |
[Direction 9 substituted by section 2(b) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
| (10) | If the Head of Department is satisfied with the reasons provided by the schools, as contemplated in sub-direction (9)(b), and despite support from the Provincial Education Department, it is considered necessary for a school to adhere to a differentiated timetabling model, the Head of Department must, within seven days from the date of notification by the school, provide approval, in writing, to the school. |
| (11) | A primary school and a school for learners with special education needs must inform the Head of Department through the district office within seventy-two (72) hours of a cluster outbreak in the school. |
| (12) | The Head of Department must maintain a register of schools that have been unable to return to a traditional timetabling model, and the reasons therefore. |
| (13) | A Member of the Executive Council responsible for education in a province that is unable to comply with the return date to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model, as contemplated in direction 5A (2) and (3), must, as soon as possible, submit a report to the Minister, in writing, on the non-compliance for the Minister’s concurrence or further determination, which report must include— |
| (i) | the reasons for the non-compliance; and |
| (ii) | a plan with the proposed dates for the return of learners to the traditional and daily attendance timetabling model, which details the steps that will be taken in each school to ensure that learners are able to return safely to school, |
and thereafter provide a progress report to the Department of Basic Education, every two weeks, on the implementation of the plans.
[Direction 13 inserted by section 2(c) of GG44922, dated 1 August 2021]
[Direction 5A inserted by section 2 of Notice No. 451, GG44633, dated 28 May 2021]