The Western Cape Minister of Education, David Maynier, has claimed that despite the announcement from Santaco to end the minibus taxi strike, education still feels the effect of the strike, as 739,569 learners and 5,533 teachers were absent from school on Friday.
Maynier appealed to parents to send their children to school on Monday, as schools were open on Friday and they were ready to welcome them on Monday.
Maynier further added that education in the Western Cape needs to catch up on the curriculum and prepare appropriately for assessments and examinations.
“A full week of teaching and learning has been lost in the Western Cape for many learners. At the height of the strike, 852 259 learners stayed at home from school, which is 71% of the learners in our schools,” Maynier said.
He also said that the ‘Back on Track’ programmes were also disrupted, and this past weekend, tutoring programmes catering for over 14,000 learners had to be cancelled because of the minibus taxi strike.
"The ‘Back on Track’ programme is aimed at providing extra lessons to learners to recover the learning losses experienced as a result of the pandemic," Maynier said.
Maynier said that the closure of schools and the subsequent phased approach to the school timetable resulted in a decline in learner performance across many grades.
Maynier said Western Cape has therefore invested R1.3 billion over a three-year period to improve results. Following the disruption this week, this has taken them one step backward, and that learners suffered as a result.
"But we will not remain defeated. It will strengthen our resolve and commitment to support our schools and drive our recovery programme even harder. This kind of commitment and dedication was evident this week, with thousands of educators showing real concern and anguish for their learners over the loss of teaching and learning time.
“Matric teachers were especially concerned about their learners, as Grade 12s only have 80 days left until their National Senior Certificate examinations, and every day counts at this stage," Maynier added.
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