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Some schools across the Eastern Cape remained open on Wednesday despite an education department directive suspending classes in three districts affected by a level 8 weather warning.
The confusion, exacerbated by unofficial messages and screenshots announcing the school closures on social networks, caused confusion for parents who were left unsure whether or not to take their children to school on Thursday.
The provincial department of education announced that schooling would be suspended on Wednesday and Thursday in the Buffalo City Metro, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the Sarah Baartman district because of severe weather.
The closure decision followed warnings from the South African Weather Service (SAWS), which forecast widespread rainfall, possible flooding, infrastructure damage and hazardous travelling conditions across parts of the Eastern and Western Cape.
Acting head of department Qaphela Luthuli urged schools to heed the warning, saying: “Consequent to the caution issued by the South African Weather Service, there is no schooling in these districts to ensure safety of all our learners.”
However, when schools across BCM and surrounding areas were contacted on Wednesday, most said they would remain open, while some parents said they had not received any communication that schools had been closed.
The apparent contradiction prompted confusion among parents and communities already bracing for the storm.
Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima explained that districts had been given authority to make decisions based on local conditions and pupil safety.
“We have given districts the authority to make decisions for the safety of their learners if they are affected,” Mtima said.
He said schools that remained open would have done so with the knowledge of their circuit managers after determining that local conditions did not place pupils at risk.
Mtima added that the department would investigate which schools had remained open and establish the reasons for their decisions.
The department first communicated the closure directive to schools on Tuesday night and followed it with additional notices on Wednesday. It instructed district directors to assess local conditions and prioritise the safety of pupils, teachers and officials before permitting attendance at schools and offices.
In the Sarah Baartman district, schools in the Ndlambe area informed parents that classes in Port Alfred would be suspended on Wednesday because of the severe weather warning.
Mid-year examinations scheduled for the day were postponed, with revised dates to be communicated later.
Mfunulwazi Primary School parent Nanziwe Ndiyalwa said she was unaware of any notification that schools had been closed and intended sending her child to school on Thursday.
She said her child travelled by scholar transport, but severe weather was already affecting communities in Tsaba village in Tsholomnqa.
“The roads are bad. Others have not yet returned as they are still in the open fields between villages returning back home,” she said.
“There are some crossing rivers, while others resort to having their children transported to and from school.”
Community member Thandile Mtikitiki said pupils from local schools in Tsholomnqa had travelled to school despite deteriorating weather and difficult road access.
“Tsholomnqa High pupils have to use unsafe routes, such as crossing streams, to gain education,” he said.
“That stream is ugly when it rains and a lot of people have been swept away by the river.
“Some pupils even get robbed while travelling these roads to the school.”
Mtima said the department’s primary concern remained the safety of pupils and staff, particularly in rural communities vulnerable to flooding, damaged roads and swollen rivers.
He said district directors had been instructed to continuously assess conditions and place safety at the centre of all decisions regarding school operations.
National Association of School Governing Bodies provincial chair Mongameli Peter supported the precautionary closure decision.
“These are decisions people never wish to take,” Peter said.
“However, when nature reacts in this manner, the responsible thing is to do what has been done, owing to this being a preventative measure against the loss of human life, specifically the lives of our children.”
He said schools and educators should use the disruption as an opportunity to explore alternative ways of supporting pupils.
“What now needs to happen as part of improvising is that authorities, while advising on the suspension of in-person attendance, must ensure lessons are provided as take-home work.
“Educators must prove themselves amenable to other means of supporting learners beyond the physical classroom.”
The decision to suspend schooling followed advice from the provincial department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs.
Cogta spokesperson Pheello Oliphant said the recommendation had been made to reduce potential danger to pupils in the affected districts.
“The department of basic education was advised by Cogta to stop learners from going to school in Sarah Baartman District, Buffalo City Metro municipality and Nelson Mandela Bay metro municipality,” Oliphant said.
The department instructed principals to prepare contingency plans to recover lost teaching time.
Widespread rain was expected to continue across much of the province on Thursday, with localised flooding possible in vulnerable areas.
The SAWS, in a statement on Wednesday, said: “More rainfall is expected, eventually becoming widespread over much of the eastern Western Cape and the Eastern Cape. A definite chance of rain remains along the coastal areas of the Eastern Cape, especially around Gqeberha and surrounding regions. Widespread showers and thundershowers are expected over the eastern parts of the Western Cape and across the Eastern Cape.”
Daily Dispatch
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