The Department of Basic Education said schools would only reopen next Monday, as only the Western Cape and Gauteng were ready to welcome pupils back.
Meanwhile, the curriculum would be adjusted to catch up after teachers and pupils had lost an entire term out of the school year as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said.
“We have lost a whole term, because March to June is the second term, and we will likely be losing more days to the virus,” Motshekga told a media briefing on Monday.
This meant that the department would have to ensure a realignment of the school
curriculum.
Officials at national and provincial level had already started tweaking it, with the help of academics, she said.
Motshekga said the lockdown imposed in late March had seen jobs lost, families “traumatised” and the education system grinding to a halt.
For schools to reopen, a “new environment” had to be created, said the minister.
On Sunday, Motshekga announced a one-week delay in sending Grade 7 and 12 pupils back to school after education unions objected, saying many schools had not yet been fully equipped to stop the spread of the virus.
These problems include PPE not being delivered, schools not being deep-cleaned and teachers still needing training on how to deal with the pandemic.
“The ongoing cleaning of schools should be finalised within the week of 1 June 2020,” the Minister said.
Only Gauteng and the Western Cape were ready to open, while KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga were seen as “high risk” provinces, she said.
Rand Water has been commissioned by the department to supply water to over 3000 schools across the country that lacked sanitation.
However, over 2600 schools still needed to be supplied. In some areas, they would need to install tanks and pipes.
Motshekga agreed with unions that no school should be allowed to reopen unless there was an adequate supply of water and PPE.
She said parents who did not want their child to return to school could apply for homeschooling, adding that schooling was compulsory for children aged 6 and 7.
Parents would be required to apply to the head of the education department seeking their child be exempted from school.
The minister is expected to meet with stakeholders again on Thursday to assess the state of readiness.