Pretoria, 06 August, 2021 / 7:50 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE) in South Africa has called on parents in the country to show their partnership in the education program by ensuring that their children attend school amid a reported increase in the number of dropouts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We call on parents to be partners in education as we work with the Department of Basic Education to reverse the loss in teaching time and to lead schools in the recovery efforts of the nation,” CIE Director, Janice Seland, says in a Monday, August 2 statement.
Ms. Seland adds, “The law is unchanged with regards to parents’ responsibilities to ensure children access education and it remains a criminal offence to keep children out of school.”
In the statement, the CIE official assures parents that schools in the country are “once again safe for learning” following the vaccination of most educators.
“The Department of Basic Education, which is also calling on all parents to return their children to schools, assures based on scientific evidence specific to South Africa, which shows children have a reduced risk of contracting COVID-19,” CIE official says.
