(Photo: Cape Wineland District Municipality)
Many schools in certain parts of the Western Cape will be closed on Monday due to severe weather warnings in these areas.
David Maynier, the Western Cape minister of education, says the decision was made with the safety of pupils and teachers in mind, after extensive consultation with the provincial disaster management center and the South African Weather Service (SAWD).
All public ordinary and special needs schools in circles 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Cape Wineland Education District will be closed on Monday. This includes schools in Worcester, Ceres, Rawsonville, Tulbagh and the Hex River Valley, among others.
According to Maynier, the schools concerned have already received official notification of the closure from the head of department and have been requested to inform parents about the arrangements.
Another 11 schools in the Eden and Central Karoo education district will also remain closed on Monday due to the impact of last week’s storm on access to these schools.
All other schools in the Western Cape will be open, unless approval for closure has been granted on a case-by-case basis.
“Our default position is always to keep schools open and only close schools in exceptional circumstances, but we are aware of the seriousness of the warnings that apply,” says Maynier.
He says the situation will be continuously monitored and evaluated to ensure that schools can reopen as soon as possible.
According to the Western Cape Department of Education, it is expected that all schools will reopen on Tuesday.
Parents have been advised to confirm with their schools whether their children’s school is affected by the closure.
- Click here for a list of schools that the department has released