Adverse weather conditions in the Western Cape has resulted in some schools being closed. Photo: Armand Hough / African News Agency (ANA)
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) announced schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg education districts would be closed on Tuesday.
Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier said the second day of school closures will only apply to 281 schools in the Cape Winelands and 84 schools in the Overberg District.
Schools in the Helderberg area will be open on Tuesday.
This after a level 9 weather warning was issued by the South African Weather Service at the weekend.
“There may be schools outside of these districts that request closure due to severe infrastructure damage or inaccessibility,” Maynier said.
“This will be considered by the Department on a case-by-case basis through the normal procedures for requesting school closure. Schools with the necessary permission to close will communicate directly with parents,” he said.
“Updated weather predictions from the South African Weather Service have indicated a continued risk in the Cape Winelands and Overberg areas, so out of an abundance of caution, we have extended the closure to a second day for these two districts only.”
He said the closure on Monday for schools in parts of the Western Cape affected 406 schools and nearly 270,000 learners.
Maynier said its learner transport routes in these areas were also not operations and affected 392 routes that ordinarily transport over 20,000 learners to school each day.
“We have already received reports of damage at 132 schools, ranging from minor to serious. The total is likely to rise when staff return to school properties in the coming days,” he said.
“Our contractors were already on site at some of the schools as early as Sunday afternoon, to prevent further damage from wind and rain,” Maynier said.
“We thank all of our officials, principals, teachers, and parents for their speedy response to the decision to close selected schools, and for the support they continue to provide to our learners in the Western Cape.”
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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