October School Holidays Won't Be Cancelled

After speculation came that the October school holidays might be cancelled to make up for lost time, the department saw many objections. Now, the October school holidays remain in place.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) initially proposed that the October school holidays should be scrapped to make up for the major losses seen in teaching and learning time. However, this did not happen.

On Sunday, DBE Minister, Angie Motshekga, held a briefing with everyone tuning in to hear whether school holidays would be cancelled. The Minister said that they won't be cancelling the upcoming school holidays, explaining:

In the end CEM agreed that the amended 2021 School Calendar MUST be retained as it was from its very last amendment – that the October vacation, will not be interfered with.  

Motshekga further said, "CEM further recommended that the lost number of school days, should be recovered at District and school-level, but with reasonableness."

Many unions, school governing bodies and parents were not happy when this recommendation was put forward with the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) CEO, Chris Clopper, saying that the department needs to consider the risks posed by the Covid-19 pandemic on teachers.

DBE Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, previously said that thought that would be the best thing to do to try to recover the lost days when speaking about cancelling the October school holidays.

The upcoming winter school holiday is set for 1 October until 10 October.