With the Level 8 weather warning forecasted for Thursday, the Western Cape education department (WCED) confirmed schools in most of its districts would be closed for the day.
The Director of Communications for the WCED, Bronagh Hammond confirmed schools in the Cape Town metro, Cape Winelands, Overberg and parts of the West Coast districts would be closed in the interest of leaner and teacher safety.
She said after an extensive consultation with the Provincial Disaster Risk Management Centre and the South African Weather Service (Saws), a decision was taken to close schools.
All public ordinary and special schools in the following education districts will be closed on Thursday, as a result of the severe storm warnings for these areas:
– Metro Central Education District
– Metro East Education District
– Metro North Education District
– Metro South Education District
– Cape Winelands Education District
– Overberg Education District
Circuit 1 and 2 of the West Coast Education District (Malmesbury and Picketberg areas)
Hammond said the schools have received official notice of the closure from the head of department, and have been requested to communicate the closures to parents.
“All other schools in the remaining districts will be open unless approval has been granted for closure. This will be done on a case-by-case basis,” Hammond said.
“Our default position is always to keep schools open, but are mindful of the severity of the warnings in place and the damage already caused in certain areas,” she said.
“So far, 20 schools have been granted permission for closure across the province, the majority of which are in the Cape Winelands district.”
Over the past few days, 137 schools have reported some form of damage to infrastructure, either as a result of flooding or heavy winds. The majority of the cases are minor, while 49 cases require our urgent attention.
“I am extremely proud of our infrastructure team who are rapidly addressing the reports coming through. It is not easy in these continued extreme conditions; however, they are determined to reduce further damage and ensure structural safety,” Hammond said.
“All schools are expected to open on Friday, July 12. We will, however, evaluate the weather prediction for the end of the week to determine whether any individual school closures are necessary on Friday.”
robin.francke@iol.co.za
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