The taxi stay away began on Thursday 3 August, after the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) released a statement calling out the Western Cape Government for impounding taxis.
Several days of unrest followed the announcement of the stay away, which was officially called off a week later on Thursday 10 August.
However, the effects of the strike are still being felt by many sectors in the Western Cape, including the education sector.
Schools recovering from taxi stay away
Schools in the Western Cape lost a week of teaching during the stay away. On Friday 11 August, the Western Cape Education Department Western Cape Education Department (WCED) revealed that 5533 teachers were absent from school.
The education department found that 852 259 learners stayed at home during the height of the strike; this number makes up 71% of learners in Western Cape schools.
WCED spokesperson, Kerry Mauchline said the department understands the position that parents are in, and why they were reluctant to send their children back to school on Friday, even once the strike had been called off on Thursday evening.
Parents have been urged to contact their schools to verify any news and updates, as there were several fake posts circulating during the strike period. This led to many parents not sending their children to school, out of fear.
Recovering lost teaching time
Despite these concerns, parents have been asked to make sure that their children attend classes, not only to catch up on lost teaching time, but to also benefit from other school programmes.
“Our schools are places of safety for our children. They are very important for learners who are in vulnerable communities in terms of their nutrition because they are served two meals at school as well so we'd really encourage them to send their kids back”
The #BackonTrack programme is one of the school programmes that were put on hold during the stay away. The programme was launched with the aim of recovering lost teaching time after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over R1.3 billion has been allocated to the programme over 3 years. These funds are meant to ensure that learners are provided with extra lessons.
Over 14,000 learners in the Western Cape benefit from the programme, which was put on hold due to the stay away. The WCED hopes that the teaching time that was lost from 3 August - 10 August will be recovered in order to get learners back on track before exams begin.
