The Department of Basic Education has announced that schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) affected by the heavy rains and subsequent flooding will be closed until next week.

This closure is to happen immediately and will end on Tuesday, 19th April. As Friday, 15th April and Monday, 18th April, are both public holidays, the impact on learning time should be kept to a minimum. The only full day which will see schools closed which doesn’t fall on a holiday or weekend should be tomorrow, Thursday, 14th April.

“The strong flooding has caused a huge disruption and it continues to impact negatively on teaching and learning at schools, while it remains a threat to the lives of pupils as well as teachers. The terrain and level of water has made it extremely difficult for teachers and pupils to reach the schools,” an announcement reads.

“At some areas it is extremely dangerous to access schools as pupils and teachers are forced to cross high levels of water. We have therefore decided to provisionally close down all affected schools until Tuesday, 19 April 2022 as we continue to monitor the situation across the province.”

It should be noted here that this closure does not affect all schools, only those which have experienced the flooding. Unfortunately, in the announcement, the DBBE does not provide a list of schools or areas included in this.

The department does, however, recommend that parents and guardians cooperate with school authorities to monitor water levels in their areas to keep on top of things.

“In the meantime, we are in the process of developing contingency plans to mitigate the impact of the floods and provide short-term measures while the water hopefully subsides,” the message continues.

The full announcement from the DBE can be found below. The person that the official DBE account is quote tweeting is Elijah Mhlanga, Chief Director: Communications & Media at the department. It’s recommended that all the accounts mentioned in these tweets are followed to receive updates about the situation.

Schools in areas affected by #KZNFlooding temporarily closed. https://t.co/Y1NRzKLbhd

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) April 13, 2022