Pretoria - Learners in inland provinces returned to school on Wednesday, while coastal schools will only return to school a week later on January 18, 2023.
The inland provinces include Gauteng, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West and the coastal provinces are KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Northern Cape.
On social media this week, many have been wondering why the government has allocated different school calendars, with the inland schools starting a week earlier.
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The department of education relies on the national education policy act to regulate school calendars for public schools in the country.
According to the policy, when the school calendar is planned, different dates must be allocated to the two clusters.
It says inland schools must open during the second week of January, while coastal schools must open during the third week of January.
However, a common calendar may be considered under exceptional circumstances, to be determined by the minister.
“The structure of the school calendar must take account of traffic flow. In particular, the aim is to allocate different dates to the two clusters in the first term so that traffic density before the opening of schools for the new school year is kept within acceptable levels.”
The act also states that school terms for learners must not begin on a Monday, as starting a term on a Monday leads to high traffic flow on the preceding Sunday and leaves insufficient time for school staff to prepare for the return of learners.
Meanwhile, in Gauteng, the first day of opening got on a rough start as parents flocked to the department of education offices to try to get their children placed.
Some parents still have issues with the online application system for admission of children to primary and secondary schools.
Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said they would go to all offices to handle the issues.
IOL