The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) stated schools in the Cape Winelands and Overberg districts will remain closed on Friday.
Western Cape MEC for Education, David Maynier, said all schools in other education districts will be open.
“This means that schools in the Cape Town metro districts, the West Coast Education District, and the Eden and Central Karoo Education District, will be open tomorrow unless approval has been granted by the Head of Department to specific individual schools to remain closed,” Maynier said.
He said the decision was based on the interest of learner and teacher safety in the Overberg and Cape Winelands districts, particularly concerning travel to and from schools.
Extensive rainfall has caused widespread damage to roads and flooding, severely impacting school transport routes.
A number of schools are reported to have sustained flood damage to their premises.
“We have asked that schools in the Overberg and Cape Winelands Education Districts to inform their parents and caregivers of the continued closure tomorrow. These schools will reopen on Monday, July 15, unless communicated otherwise,” Maynier said.
A total of 217 schools across the province reported some form of damage to their infrastructure or experienced disruptions due to the overnight heavy rains and strong winds. Out of these, 86 cases are regarded as serious and require immediate attention.
“Our infrastructure teams are addressing these cases as fast as possible. I am grateful for their continued commitment in these adverse conditions. I am also very appreciative of the support received from school principals and their management teams in implementing the decision to close schools in some of our districts.
“Thank you also to all the parents and caregivers for their support. We do not take the decision to close schools lightly and have the best interests of our learners and teachers at heart when making these decisions,” Maynier added.
On Wednesday, the WCED closed most schools across all districts in the Western Cape.
Parents can use the “Find my School” search finder to confirm if their school falls under these two districts: https://wcedemis.westerncape.gov.za/wced/findaschool.html
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL