JOHANNESBURG, June 28 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's teacher unions on Monday welcomed the government's decision to close schools as COVID-19 cases continued surging in the past week.
The National Professional Teachers' Organization President Basil Manuel said the Department of Basic Education held meetings with the unions before the decision was made.
"We support the closure of schools. We do hope it will protect children," he told Xinhua.
Manuel said the decision to ban all forms of gatherings was excellent as it would be key in curbing cases.
"It will stem the tide and force our high school students to stay home," he said, hoping the vaccination of teachers would be done when schools are reopened.
Nomusa Cembi, spokesperson of South African Democratic Teachers Union, said: "We have no problem with the closure of schools as it's an attempt to deal with the virus."
She told Xinhua that the closure of schools would not have an impact on this year's curriculum.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that schools would be closed on Wednesday this week and reopened on July 19 due to surging COVID-19 cases.
The vaccination of teachers commenced last week, targeting 582,000 people by July 8. Enditem
