A decision was made to continue the closure of schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts on Friday, 12 July, following a meeting with Provincial Disaster Risk Management.
All schools in the other education districts are to re-open tomorrow, such as schools in the Cape Town metro districts, the West Coast Education District, and the Eden and Central Karoo Education District.
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These schools will be open tomorrow, unless approval has been granted by the Head of Department to ‘specific individual schools to remain closed’, according to a recent media statement issued by the Western Cape government.
The decision was based on the interests of learner and teacher safety in the Overberg and Cape Winelands Education Districts, especially regarding ‘travelling to and from schools’.
Extensive rainfall has caused widespread damage to roads and flooding, thus affecting school transport routes, with several schools that have also reported flood damage to their premises.
The Western Cape government has further urged schools in the Overberg and Cape Winelands Education Districts to inform parents and caregivers of the affected schools of the continued closure tomorrow.
These schools will reopen on Monday, 15 July, unless ‘communicated otherwise’.
Parents can use the ‘Find my School’ search finder to confirm if their school falls under these two districts at https://wcedemis.westerncape.gov.za/wced/findaschool.html.
Across the province, 217 schools have reported some form of’ damage to school infrastructure’ or disruption, with the main factor being last night’s heavy rains and strong winds, which contributed towards this figure.
In addition, 86 cases are regarded as serious and require attention, with infrastructure teams addressing these cases ‘as fast as possible’.
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Picture: Papi Morake / Gallo Images