Academic year will continue unless pandemic worsens

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EDUCATION Secretary Dr Uke Kombra says the 2020 academic year will be completed unless the Covid-19 situation worsens.
The national education board came up with the recommendation after considering the implications of the suspension of the school year.
Kombra said it would have huge consequences on the education system next year.
“The closure of the academic year is a very serious matter. It affects the future of every student and it will affect the country economically and socially,” he said.
He said they would only consider cancelling classes for the rest of the year if the virus reached all the provinces.
Schools which resume on Monday after a 14-day suspension are adjusting timetables and programmes to catch up on lessons they missed.
Kombra said the decision on whether to send children to school would be made by parents.
On the call for the deferment of the Grade 12 written expression exam on Monday by at least a week to give students time to prepare, Kombra said there was only one education system and one examination set for all schools.
He said department could not defer the exam for NCD schools while the rest of the country sat for it.
“The written expression exam is not like the objective exams.
“It is just to test students’ competency on their basic skills and knowledge in reading, writing and comprehension that they have acquired in the 12 years of education,” he said.
“We have already postponed the exams for two weeks and we’re on a tight schedule. So the exam will proceed on Monday.”