Mini-bus taxi strike: Over 850 000 learners ‘stay away’ from school

With the mini-bus ‘stay away’ in its final two days, the impact of Santaco Western Cape’s action has resulted in over 852 200 learners staying out of school on Tuesday.

The Western Cape Department of Education (WCED) said learner attendance from schools in the Cape Town metro district were the worst affected as 92 schools were closed due to what is being referred to as a “taxi strike”.

ALSO READ: Cape Town taxi strike: Province braces for school absenteeism

Over 17000 teachers unable to do their jobs

WCED MEC David Maynier said the affected schools were part of the metro north, metro east, and metro south education districts. The department recorded over 17 000 teachers across the province unable to attend to their posts due to the strike.

ALSO READ: Primary school burglary prompts widespread manhunt in Musina

Maynier said, “This is sadly not the first time this has happened in our schools, and teachers will assess their learners’ needs and implement catch up plans with the assistance of the Department.

“The bottom line is that learners need to be at school. We are already investing R1.2 billion into extra lessons to catch up time lost during the pandemic, so we cannot afford to lose normal teaching and learning time now,” he said.

ALSO READ: Staffer at top Makhanda boys’ school arrested for rape

The department recorded attendance rates between 10% and 20% in the Cape metro district while learner transport in the Cape Winelands and West Coast education districts were also reduced.

Parents keep kids home for safety

Reports of violence across the city also prompted parents to keep their children home for safety reasons.

ALSO READ: Western Cape driver squeezed 28 school kids into 16-seater taxi [Watch]

Maynier cautioned against the spread of fake news in an attempt to heighten hysteria, “Unfortunately, rumours that schools were being targeted and burned spread wildly this morning, resulting in panic and confusion. No school has reported such an incident.”

Earlier today, a meeting between the African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape, Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), South African Communist Party (SACP) and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) met to discuss their collective stance on the public transport issues in the province.