This news aggregator site highlights South African labour news from a wide range of internet and print sources. Each posting has a synopsis of the source article, together with a link or reference to the original. Postings cover the range of labour related matters from industrial relations to generalist human resources.
The Citizen reports that SA’s school calendar could have a radical new look if the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE’s) proposed changes to the 2024 academic year get the green light.
The public has until 4 June to comment on gazetted major amendments to the National Policy for Determining School Calendars for Public Schools in SA. One of the changes which, however, has already been confirmed for 2024 is that of incorporating as many public holidays as possible into school holidays. The DBE has gone back to the drawing board with the changes in its bid to maximise school time following the past three years’ disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed amendments would provide more flexibility when it comes to determining the start and end dates of each term. They will also address the staggered coastal/inland calendar. In its gazetted proposed change, the DBE noted that every effort must be made to ensure that there was no public holiday during the first or last week of a school term when the calendar was planned. Where a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, the Monday before or the Friday after the public holiday must be declared a school holiday. If a long weekend begins on a public holiday that falls on a Friday, and such a weekend coincides with the beginning of the school holidays, schools must close on the Wednesday and not on the Thursday.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Cornelia Le Roux at The Citizen
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page