Unions welcome daily return of all primary school pupils
Teacher unions have largely welcomed the return of pupils to school for daily classes in late July.
Basic Education says all primary school pupils must return to school daily from 26 July.
The South African Democratic Teachers Union's (Sadtu) Mugwena Maluleke says they'll be keeping a close eye on any possible overcrowding.
"We are going to continue monitoring - in terms of what the science is saying - how the third wave is unfolding and the issues that we have raised with the Department of Education is that are there protocols in place in terms of precaution and all the PPEs that are required in our schools."
The unions have acknowledged the need to be extra cautious, with several provinces on the brink of a third wave of Covid-19 infections.
The National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa's (Naptosa) Basil Manuel says many children haven't benefited from attending school on alternate days.
"We raised the concerns of calls to mental health to our teachers. Remember that fear is real irrespective of what informs it and we to have to acknowledge of cause the loses that our primary school children have suffered where we are sitting with a cohort of Grade 2s who can hardly read, So it has been a mixed bag however we have given this as Naptosa our qualified support."
